


Into the Shadows

by Ambs_Writes



Series: Into the Shadows [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bisexual Isabelle Lightwood, F/F, Falling In Love, Lesbian Clary Fray, Pre-Canon, Secret Relationship, Sort Of, Soul Bond, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, characters tagged in order of importance, not a slow burn, not quite a speed run either, pre-series to pilot episode, shadow world politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2020-10-26 07:20:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 45,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20738393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambs_Writes/pseuds/Ambs_Writes
Summary: It happens by accident, a chance meeting that binds Clary and Isabelle together. They're connected now, and the world Jocelyn had tried so hard to keep Clary away from is dropped in her hands. It seemed that fate had other plans for Clary and Isabelle and, as Clary soon learns, your destiny is your own but maybe fate can help push you in the right direction. And this time, that direction just might be Isabelle Lightwoood.Soulmate/Soul bond pre-series au





	1. Chapter 1

The music of the club pounded in her ears, thundering through her veins in time with her racing heart. She felt exhilarated, free in a way that was so different than the rush of the hunt. She didn’t feel the burn of her runes, no adrenaline in her veins. There was no one she needed to save, no demon to slay or downworlder to placate. It was just her, swaying to the music. She didn’t care about the people around her, hadn’t bothered to make herself visible to the mundanes in the club. 

It wasn’t odd for Isabelle to sneak away from the Institute for a night like this. Her brothers assumed that she was meeting up with her Seelie friend, Meliorn, or something of a similar effect. While Isabelle did visit Meliorn during her little excursions, more often than not she was actually by herself, dancing up a storm on a dark dance floor or sneaking into a concert. She didn’t have to worry about being followed, and she knew how to avoid the demon hotspots and downworlder club. That was what she craved really, escaping from the dark world she lived in. A chance to let loose, be a seventeen-year-old girl and not a soldier. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t like being a Shadowhunter. She did. She loves her work, she respected the mission she had to do, she would gladly lay down her life in defense of the fragile balance between the inhabitants of the shadow world. She spent her whole life training right alongside her brothers, master weapons and combat methods and languages all in preparation for the never-ending war she’d be expected to fight in until her death. Being a Shadowhunter, a warrior, a soldier, it was all she had ever known. Still, it was a hard burden to bear on her own. 

The loneliness of what they did was rarely spoken about among her people. Or, maybe the others were too scared to admit they felt the same way as Isabelle did. Shadowhunters were not individuals. Being a Shadowhunter meant being a part of a brotherhood, a family that wrapped around the globe, a family that stood united against all advisories. Being a Shadowhunter meant trusting your fellow hunters, especially for those like her brothers who shared the parabatai bond. Passions had to pushed aside, and honor meant more than family. The individuals were lost behind the glow of the seraph blades and family names. It was a lonely way to live, putting your people, the entire world, above yourself. Isabelle had been born and bred to be a soldier, something she excelled at, but there was a part of her that longed for the freedom of a world not at war. That was the part of herself she had to keep hidden. She could dress provocatively; she knew how to use her body to her advantage. She could have her liaisons with the Fair Folk, her downworlder friends, as long as she remained a Shadowhunter before anything else. Before she was a sister, a daughter, a friend, a lover, she was a Shadowhunter. 

In the mundane world, under the neon lights with the bass thumping in her ears, Isabelle didn’t have to be a Shadowhunter. She didn’t have to be anything other than whatever she wanted. It was her own private joy, even if a part of her wanted to have someone to share it with. 

~

As she and Simon entered the club, Clary almost couldn’t believe that their fake I. D’s had worked. Then again, the bouncer didn’t seem to be checking as closely as they did at all other clubs they had tried to get into. It was pretty late after all; much later than Clary had thought she would have been out. Simon had insisted they celebrate her seventeenth birthday in style, which apparently meant trying and failing to get into any club in New York. It was nearing midnight, her birthday was almost over, but Clary could admit that she had fun stumbling around the streets with her best friend. Simon had been her best friend since they were kids, they did everything together. She was there at every gig for his band, despite their ongoing inability to settle on a name, and he treated everything she drew like it was the work of Leonardo DaVinci. She and her mother spent Christmas and Hanukkah with his family, and they played wingman for one another every time they went out. Hanging out with Simon was exactly what she had wanted to do on her birthday, even if it wasn’t enough for her to deny the strange feeling in her chest. 

It had plagued her the whole day, this apprehension she felt, since the second she opened her eyes. She felt like she was waiting for something, but she didn’t know what. She could feel it coming, creeping up on her like a summer storm. She could see it building in the distance and looming over her, but she wasn’t afraid of what the storm might hold. She was ready for whatever the rain would bring to her. 

“I can’t believe we actually got in.” Simon speaks in her ear, nearly yelling to get over the music pumping through the speakers. It’s nearly midnight, but the clubbers are going full swing, last call won’t be for hours. “Drinks? My treat.” 

Clary agrees and moves to find them a table. She tries to skirt around the edges of the dancefloor, but the place is far too packed for there to be any wiggle room. She surveys the floor, looking for the clearest path to the opposite side when she spots a solitary figure. Dark locks cascade down her back as moves to the beat of the music. She’s dressed in a tight, black leather dress and Clary feels her mouth go a little dry at the sight. The girl is gorgeous, there’s no denying that, but that wasn’t all that had caught Clary’s attention. It was the tattoos that dotted the girl’s skin. Black marks, some defined by sharp lines and other by curved edges, each one deliberate and beautiful. The image of those marks plucked at the edges of Clary’s mind, a memory that lingered just out of reach. 

Before she can think about what she’s doing, Clary is making her way across the dancefloor. She keeps her gaze locked on the still dancing girl as she weaves in and out of the crowd. So focused on her task, Clary doesn’t notice the group of stumbling girls attempting to make their way off the dance floor - presumably to get more drinks - until two of them are bumping into her. There’s several squeals of apologies and giggles that follow after Clary, who manages to keep herself from falling over. She backs away from the group of girls with a placating smile, only turning when the group continues on their way. 

When she turns around, Clary finds herself face to face with the leather-clad girl. 

“I, um, sorry -” Clary stumbles over her words. A perfectly sculpted eyebrow lifts slightly, slips painted red slipping into a half-amused smirk. 

“You can see me?” The girl asks, dark eyes boring into Clary’s own. Clary swallows. 

“You’re kind of hard to miss,” she can feel the blush painting her cheeks and looks away. That feeling in her chest grows stronger, an almost physical heat feels like it will burst from her chest. When she looks back up, the girl is still staring at her with a soft look of surprise. “I’m Clary.” 

Clary holds her hand out for the girl to shake. The girls stares at it for a second before reaching out as well. 

“Isabelle,” she says, moving slowly like she doesn’t think she’ll actually be able to touch Clary. Their fingers brush together, Clary sucks in a breath. Her chest feels tight all of sudden, as tense as the air just before the bottom drops out of the clouds and the downpour begins. Isabelle looked into her eyes as their palms meet. There’s a beat, one that lasts for a fraction of a second where Clary feels weightless, bathed in warmth from the inside out. Then, the second passes and that warmth becomes physical around them, a golden light surrounding the two of them. The light is bright, almost enough to make Clary close her eyes but she keeps them open, locked onto Isabelle just as their hands stay clasped. 

The light fades and Clary realizes she’s breathing hard, chest heaving like she had just ran a marathon. Isabelle does the same, though she seems more in control of herself than Clary. 

“What was that?” Clary questions as she looks around. No one else in the club seemed to have noticed the light, or the two stationary girls in the middle of the dance floor. Clary could see Simon at a table, two drinks with him, casting his gaze across the room. When he looked in Clary’s direction, his eyes seemed to skate right over her. 

“I don’t know.” Isabelle sounds perplexed. Clary feels a pressure on her hand and it’s then that she realizes she hadn’t let go of Isabelle yet. “You shouldn’t even be able to see me.” 

It sounds Isabelle was speaking more to herself than Clary, but Clary responded anyway. “How could I not see you?” She doesn’t mean it in the flirty way it comes out, at least not entirely. 

“You must have the Sight.” Isabelle speaks almost under her breath. “That’s the only way. There aren’t new Shadowhunters.” 

“Sight?” Clary questions. “Shadowhunters? What are you talking about?” 

“I have to be sure. The Clave…” Isabelle trails off, looking at their still joined hands. “Please, is there some place we can talk?” 

“I don’t know.” Clary starts to let go of Isabelle’s hand, but Isabelle holds on tighter. 

“I know this - I know I - sound crazy, but I promise there’s an explanation. Please trust me.” 

Clary isn’t sure why, or how, but she knows that she can trust Isabelle. She can feel it, a certainty that lingers right down to her bones. She nods her head once, squeezes Isabelle’s hand. 

“Okay.” 


	2. Chapter 2

It takes another few seconds for Clary to come back to her senses enough to let go of Isabelle’s hand and make her way towards Simon. She can feel Isabelle’s presence behind her, but Simon doesn’t spare the dark-haired girl even a glance as they approach the table. 

“There you are!” Simon calls joyously. “I thought you might have ditched me for a hot blonde.” 

“Blondes aren’t my type,” Clary rolls her eyes at her friends joke. “Actually, I’m pretty wiped. You mind if we cut this party short?” 

“Well, I guess since it’s your birthday,” Simon groans melodramatically, and then checks his watch, “which technically ended twenty minutes ago, but I’ll let you have it. Your mom still doing post birthday pancakes in the morning?” 

“Of course,” Clary smiles as Simon removes himself from the seat, leaving some money on the table for their drinks. Clary feels a little bad since she didn’t even touch hers but follows Simon away from the table. At one point as they walk out, Simon looks back at her and then directly at Isabelle, who was walking just behind Clary, but his gaze seems to go out of focus for a second. Just like when he was looking for Clary earlier, his eyes slide right over Isabelle without seeing her. 

“No, he can’t see me,” Isabelle whispers in Clary’s ear, seeming to anticipate the question lingering on Clary’s tongue. “Follow him, I’ll explain when we are alone.” 

Clary nods mutely and follows Simon as they exit the club and start heading towards the loft she shares with her mother. She listens with half an ear as Simon starts one of tirades about Star Trek being superior to Star Wars, humming occasionally to make it seem like she’s paying attention. She feels bad for ignoring Simon, but he seems none the wiser as they walk, either ignoring or not noticing all the times Clary looked over her shoulder at the woman he couldn’t see. Isabelle walked without sound and Clary had to reassure herself that she hadn’t disappeared. 

“Breakfast pancakes?” Simon asks when they finally arrive at the loft. Clary nods slightly and wishes her best friend a good night. She waits until he’s out of sight, around the corner from the loft, before turning to Isabelle. 

“I feel like I should apologize for ignoring you,” Clary feels nervous suddenly, rubs at a spot on her chest with one hand. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Isabelle offers a slight smile. “Should we…” she trails off, gesturing to the loft. Clary looks up at the building, seeing the light in the living room still on. She suddenly realizes that she’s out past her curfew and in big trouble, that doesn’t seem all that important compared to the pressure in her chest and the tattooed girl beside her. 

“Right yes, okay,” Clary looks back Isabelle. “Think you can sneak past my mom? We can talk in my bedroom.” 

“Lead the way.” Isabelle gestures for Clary to walk before her. They stop at the door and Clary directs the other girl to her bedroom, promising to be there in a few minutes. Isabelle nods and slips through the door after Clary. 

“I sure hope Simon’s gig went well, since you’re home so late.” Jocelyn’s voice rang out from the living room. Clary adopted an appropriately guilty expression and walked into the living room to face her mother. Jocelyn sat on the couch, legs and arms crossed, and stared expectantly at her daughter. 

“I’m sorry,” Clary drew out the words, adding far more syllables than necessary. “It did go really well and then we decided to celebrate that, and he promised we’d do something after to celebrate my birthday and I guess we just lost track…Mom?” 

Clary stopped speaking as she noticed her mother wasn’t listening to a word she had said and was instead looking intently at Clary. 

“What is that?” Jocelyn pointed at Clary’s chest, her tone somewhere between angry and scared. 

“What are you - Oh, that,” Clary looked down and noticed a black line across her skin that she didn’t recall putting there. She pulled at the hem of her V-neck t-shirt and revealed a completed design, two interconnected hearts with an infinity sign swirling in the space where the ends crossed. “Um, temporary tattoos. For the gig, new good luck ritual.” 

The lie is terrible, and Clary waits for the berate from her mother for lying but it doesn’t come. Her mother looks at her, scrutinizing every inch and then her gaze drifts behind her and she’s staring over Clary’s shoulder. 

“Clary, get behind me.” Jocelyn’s voice is hard. It’s not a request but a command and when Clary doesn’t follow immediately, Jocelyn pulls on her arm and places herself between Clary and the doorway. Clary stumbles slightly and when she looks up again Isabelle is standing in the doorway, a silver whip in her hand. She looks fierce, Clary feels a pulse of adrenaline in her chest that she’s sure doesn’t come from her because the only thing she feels is fear. Jocelyn situations herself in a fighting stance and Clary watches her pull a sword hilt from her back pocket, a gleaming blade appearing in her hand. “Who sent you, Shadowhunter?” 

“Mom - wait, she’s with me,” Clary’s words go unheard as Jocelyn takes a threatening step forward. 

“Answer me!” Jocelyn demands. “Who sent you?” 

“No one,” Isabella answers, her tone placating but sure. “I swear.” 

“How did you find us?” Jocelyn pulls a short, intricate looking stick with a crystal on the end from her other pocket. “Who else knows where we are?” 

“No one,” Isabella repeats. “I don’t even know who you are. Believe me, I’m just as confused as you.” Clary feels something like uncertainty for a moment before it passes. Isabella relaxes her stance; her whip shrinks and slinks like a snake up her arm until it settles on her wrist as a bracelet. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.” 

“And yet it did.” Jocelyn shifts her weight, standing up straighter but not dropping her weapon. “Who are you?” 

“Isabelle Lightwood.” Jocelyn takes a step back, recognition lighting her eyes. Clary takes the opportunity to move so she’s standing beside her mother. She wants to move closer to Isabella but refrains just in case her mom decides to pick up her now not glowing but still very much present sword again. 

“Lightwood.” Jocelyn says, almost to herself. “I guess that would mean Alexander is your older brother.” 

“You know my family?” Isabelle asks, looking just as surprised as Clary feels. 

“I used to.” Jocelyn finally puts her weapon away, but the weird length of metal Clary had spotted earlier stays in her hand. “That was a long time ago.” 

“You’re a Shadowhunter.” Isabelle glances over at Clary and then back at Jocelyn. “That’s why she can see me. She’s a Shadowhunter.” 

“Maybe by blood,” Jocelyn looks at her daughter. “But she’s not a part of that world. Neither of us are. Not anymore.” 

“What are you talking about?” Clary interrupts, taking a step closer to Isabelle. “Shadowhunters? What world?” 

“The Shadow World,” Jocelyn answers. “I world I left behind before you were born.” Jocelyn runs the crystal atop the metal stick along her arm, a black tattoo similar to the ones that covered Isabelle appearing on her skin. 

“Shadow World?” Clary looks between her mother and Isabelle. “You realize this is crazy right?” 

“You don’t know the half of it,” Isabelle mumbles. She moves into the room, hesitating when Jocelyn shoots a warning glance at her. Instead of stepping further into the room Isabelle moves to the side and leans against the wall. 

“How did you find us?” Jocelyn asks again, her tone kinder than before. 

“She didn’t,” Clary speaks up, feeling a blush rising on her cheeks. She feels strangely amused as she turns away from both her mother and Isabelle. “I found her.” 

“Right,” Jocelyn looks at her daughter skeptically. Clary clears her throat, feeling the amusement within her rise. 

“I mean, I bumped into her. Almost literally.” She’s still blushing and tries to hide it by keeping her gaze down. Somehow, she knows her mother and Isabelle can still see the red painted across her cheeks. “Simon and I managed to get into one of the clubs near here and we met on the dance floor.” 

“We’ll come back to the whole club thing later,” Jocelyn looks pointedly at her daughter who looks appropriately chastised. “What about that?” Jocelyn points to the mark on Clary’s chest again. “Did you draw that on her?” 

“No,” Isabelle pushes herself off the wall and approaches Clary. “I didn’t. I’ve never seen a mark like that before.” She’s standing close, barely any space between them as Isabelle looks closer at the mark on her chest. Clary, feeling an odd mix of nervous and endeared, tries desperately to not look Isabelle in the face. 

“You have one, too.” Clary says suddenly, her attempt to avoid making eye contact with Isabelle leading her to spotting the line barely visible on Isabelle’s chest, right where the ‘v’ of her neckline begins. “In the same spot, too.” 

“What?” Jocelyn moves to the two girls. Isabelle takes a step back as she looks at the mark on her own chest. “They’re identical.” 

“Strange,” Isabelle murmurs. “I didn’t feel it.” 

“It didn’t burn?” Jocelyn asked. When Isabelle shook her head, Jocelyn spoke again. “What happened at the club?” 

“The light,” Clary said softly. Jocelyn looked at her quizzically. 

“When we shook hands, there was a golden light. It faded so fast, I thought I had imagined it.” Isabelle explained. She looked up at Clary, their eyes locking together for a moment. Jocelyn watches as a visible pulse passes between them, both Clary and Isabelle reaching for their own marks at the same time. 

“You’re sure the light was golden?” Jocelyn asks. Both girls nod and Jocelyn sighs. 

“Mom, what is going on?” Clary asks as Jocelyn moves away from her and Isabelle. 

“I don’t know. Not for sure.” Jocelyn looks at Isabelle. “I need you to look in the Grey Book, see if you can find anything connected to this.” Isabelle nods. “Can you meet with us again?” 

“Won’t be a problem,” Isabelle smirks slightly. “I have plenty of experience sneaking out of the Institute.” 

“Great, perfect.” Jocelyn nods and then her expression goes serious again. “Can I trust you not to tell anyone about us?” 

Isabelle hesitates for a moment. It’s not that she had a problem breaking the rules but sneaking out was one thing. Lying to the Clave about two Shadowhunters, one completely untrained, living in the city was an entirely different matter. She looks at Clary and feels another pulse inside her chest, one that she knows is connected to the new mark on her skin. She needs answers, about the mark and about Clary. Isabelle takes a breath to steady herself and looks back at Jocelyn. 

“I’ll keep your secret; you have my word.” Isabelle touches her mark. “At least until we know what this means.” 

Jocelyn nods her understanding. “You should get back to the Institute, I’m sure someone has noticed your absence.” 

“I’m sure.” Isabelle thinks about the teasing remarks coming her way from Jace and the accepting silence from Alec. She turns to Clary and pulls out her phone. “I can call you after I check the book?” 

Clary stares at the outstretched phone for a second before pulling her own from her pocket and handing it over as well. Numbers exchanged; Isabelle moves towards the door. “I’ll be in touch soon.” 

A silence stretches between mother and daughter after Isabelle leaves, Clary looks down at her phone. Isabelle had saved her number in Clary’s phone under the name Izzy and Clary feels an odd warmth blossom in her chest again. 

“You should get some sleep,” Jocelyn says, “let all of this sink in. I’m sure you’ll have questions later.” 

“Right, yeah,” Clary throws a goodnight over her shoulder and makes her way to her room, feeling far too awake to sleep. When her dreams finally find her, Clary sees lights shimmering around her and feels a burn on her skin that doesn’t sting as much as it energizes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! 
> 
> I hope to see y'all next week! 
> 
> As always feel free to come yell at me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ambs-writes)


	3. Chapter 3

“You look terrible,” Jace said in greeting when Izzy enters the training room the next morning, “late night?” His tone is teasing, and Alec takes the millisecond long distraction when Jace glances over as her to knock the blond boy on his ass. 

“I look better than you,” Izzy retorts with a mocking smile as moves past her sparring brothers. She has to resist the urge to touch the mark on her chest, covered by a glamor since she knows her brothers would notice a rune not normally there. She feels an emptiness there, one that she can’t fully explain. She thinks it has something to do with the light that had surrounded her and Clary the night before, but she can’t be sure if that was the moment the mark appeared or not. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Izzy crosses out of the training room and heads for the reference books stacked near the back of the Ops Center. 

“Brushing up on your runes?” Alec asks when he and Jace find her at the table a few minutes later, where she’s idly flipping through the Grey Book. 

“Never hurts to stay sharp.” Izzy replies, but doesn’t look away from the book. 

“As if you’d ever be anything but,” Jace scoffs and pulls up a chair, propping his feet up on the table. “What’s the real story?” 

“I’m looking for something if you must know,” Izzy turns her head to smirk at her brother, “but it doesn’t matter.” Izzy didn’t think she would find anything in the Grey Book, she had never seen anything like the mark on her chest before. Still, she would take the time to go through the book later just to be sure. 

“Not even going to tell us what?” Alec asks, looking at the monitor next to the table. 

“Nope,” Izzy smiles at her brothers. “Don’t worry, big brother. I can handle myself.” 

“If you say so,” Alec jokes, Izzy knows he had full confidence in her abilities, but his brotherly concern is touching. “Care to get back to our actual job?” 

“New reports?” Izzy asks, closing the Grey Book and pushing it away from her to focus on the screen. 

“Energy spikes in Brooklyn, unknown origin. Could be rouge warlocks, or a demon hotspot.” Alec manipulates the screen to show the layout of a street in Brooklyn. “Several smaller spikes happened, but the biggest one occurred at midnight in this club.” 

Only years of training kept Izzy from showing any reaction on her face as an image of the nightclub she had been in the night before appears on the screen. She felt a spike in her chest, resting her hand over the invisible mark on her chest. Neither Jace nor Alec notice the movement. 

“The spikes stopped after the last one at midnight.” Alec finishes and clears the screen. 

“You think it was a portal?” Jace asks as the three siblings rise from the table and head to the weapons keep together. 

“No, the energy source was unknown.” Alec pulls his bow and quiver out and slings them on before grabbing two extra seraph blades. “We can identify portals. Whatever this is, it’s something new.” 

“Well, I’m always up for a challenge.” Jace finishes arming himself with his own seraph blades and double checks that he has his stele with him. “Ready?” 

Izzy nods, her whip already curled around her wrist in the form of her snake bracelet and two seraph blades on her person. “Let’s go.” 

The walk to the nightclub seems longer than it had before, or maybe it was the feeling of unease that weighed Isabelle down. She and her brothers moved silently through the streets of Brooklyn, unseen by the mundanes milling about. It was late morning, nearly lunchtime and the sidewalks were moderately busy, not that it mattered to the Lightwood siblings. They moved through the crowd with ease, unnoticed by the mundanes. 

“This is the place,” Alec remarked as they came upon the nightclub. Isabelle looked up at the sign, the lights from before turned off but the words and emblem behind it still clearly readable. 

“The Inferno,” Jace read with a low whistle. “Twenty bucks says the theme is shit.” 

Alec snorted a laugh, but Isabelle remained quiet, her smile more knowing than her brothers. Although her memories from the night before tended to stay focused from the moment she met Clary on, she remembered making a similar comment the night before. Alec lead the way inside the club after drawing the unlocking rune on the door. 

“Let’s see if we can find anything in here,” Alec looked around the empty club, taking in the shabby red, orange and yellow decor with blatant distaste. Maybe the Inferno had been a nice club, fifteen years ago. 

Alec and Jace split, heading towards the two bars on either side of the room and Izzy heads to the dancefloor. She traces the path she had taken the night before to stand where she had when Clary had nearly crashed into her. Her eyes fall closed as she thinks back to what happened the night before, remembering Clary’s hand in hers, the golden pulse of light that had surrounded them when their skin touched. 

Izzy hears the noise of her brothers moving around and opens her eyes, looking around herself for any sign of the golden dome from the night before. She doesn’t see anything around her, or on the rest of the dancefloor. Turning, she follows the path she and Clary had walked the night before, stopping at all the tables she passed and checking them over. 

“I don’t see anything.” She called out after making a lap around the building, joining her brothers at the bar. 

“There’s nothing here,” Alec sighs heavily and guides the other two Shadowhunters to the door of the club. They exit, relock the door and step around the corner. “We should scope this place out, see if anything strange happens here tonight.” 

“You think it will happen again?” Jace asks, crossing his arms over his chest. Izzy places her hands on her hips and looks at her eldest brother, hoping she looks surer than she feels. 

“I don’t know, but it’s all we have to go on.” Alec begins to walk off, knowing his siblings will follow him. “I’ll get the mission approved by the Clave, try not to mess anything up between now and then.” 

“We’ll do our best,” Jace rolls his eyes at Alec’s teasing words and follows after him. Izzy follows a second later, not sure if she’s disappointed, they didn’t find anything or relieved. Whatever happened between her and Clary, Izzy has an odd desire to keep it to herself, hold it close to her and protect it with all she has. She follows her brothers back to the Institute, hoping the Grey Book would have some more answers. 

Clary had almost forgotten about her post birthday pancakes and was surprised to see Simon already sitting at her dining room table when she left her room for breakfast that morning. He was chattering away at her mother, pausing to greet Clary and slide her a plate stacked with far too many pancakes for her to eat on her own. Clary did her best to join the conversation, but she couldn’t let go of the apprehension she felt. She didn’t understand where that feeling was coming from, her mother gestured for her to fix her shirt and Clary looked down to see the stark black lines drawn on her pale skin. Luckily, she was able to fix the neckline of her shirt before Simon noticed the design. She wouldn’t have an answer to any of the questions she knows Simon would ask if he saw it. 

Jocelyn kindly convinced Simon to leave soon after breakfast, sighting the trouble Clary was in for breaking her curfew and sneaking into a club. Simon looked at Clary apologetically, but she waved off his concerns. In light of the whole Shadow World thing, Clary didn’t feel all that bad about breaking her curfew. 

“I know I have a lot to explain to you.” Jocelyn said once mother and daughter were settled in the living room. 

“I would say so,” Jocelyn narrowed her eyes at her daughter and Clary could admit that she probably shouldn’t have taken that tone with her mother. Then again, her mother had been lying to her for the last seventeen years, so Clary was entitled to a little attitude. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” 

“I wanted to protect you. The Shadow World is a dangerous place. I didn’t want you to be a soldier, like I was. I wanted you to be a kid. I planned on telling you on your eighteenth birthday.” Jocelyn reached over the coffee table and picked up a skinny, black box that she handed to Clary. “This is yours, it was made for you when I found out I was pregnant. It’s called a stele.” 

Clary opened the box and picked up the length of decorated metal that lay within the box. It was similar to the one Jocelyn had pulled from her pocket, but the decorative carvings were slightly different. 

“What’s it for?” Clary asked, turning the stele over in her hand. 

“It helps Shadowhunters draw on their angelic powers through runes,” Jocelyn dragged her own stele across her arm, the gem glowing. Clary saw the same black lines from the night before appearing on her mother’s skin. “They make us faster, stronger, able to endure more.” 

“Is that what this is? A rune?” Clary pointed at the mark on her chest. 

“I’m not sure,” Jocelyn moved closer to get a better look at the mark. Now that she could see it better, she could admit that the mark itself had a certain beauty in its simplicity. It didn’t have the swirling and intersecting lines that so many runes did, nor did it look like any rune that had been modified over time. “What does it feel like?” 

“It’s warm,” Clary said, covering the mark with her hand. Jocelyn quirked an eyebrow at her and Clary continued. “Not like, burning warm, but like standing in front of a fire warm. Comforting but not overwhelming.” 

Jocelyn stayed silent for a long moment, mentally running through the runes she had studied in her youth. None of the ones she remembered studying and using when she was a Shadowhunter. Finally, Jocelyn spoke, “if it is a rune, it’s not like any of the ones I’ve seen before. We’ll wait and see what Isabelle finds in the Grey Book.” 

“You don’t trust her, do you?” Clary asked her mother. Jocelyn looked over at her, her expression carefully held in a mostly neutral way. 

“I don’t know her. I knew her parents, a long time ago and they were…” Jocelyn thinks back to the Circle, the horrors her husband’s actions had caused, betrayals and lies. “Do you trust her?” 

“Yeah, actually, I do.” Clary rubs at her chest softly and looks away from her mother. She doesn’t know why she trusts Izzy; she barely knows the girl but something inside tells her that she should. She knows, deep in her bones, almost an unconscious knowledge, that whatever has happened between her and Izzy, whatever may happen next, she can count on Izzy. She thinks that they’re a team now, whether they want to be or not. Clary shakes her head to clear it and turns back to her mother. “Tell me about the Shadow World.” 

Jocelyn does, relaying carefully constructed stories out for Clary. She tells her about training and runes and demon fights, a little about the downworlders and the Institutes. She doesn’t mention Clary’s father by name, only saying that he had died in battle shortly before Clary was born. It’s enough of the truth to ease the guilt Jocelyn feels about continuing to lie to her daughter. Clary doesn’t need to know that her father had been a monster. 

They talked for hours, Jocelyn telling stories of the hunts she had gone on as a young girl, the people she had met and places she’d been. They talk until Clary’s phone beeps with an incoming message from Izzy, saying that she hadn’t found anything yet but was going to do some more digging around. Clary relayed the message to her mother who agreed it was best to explore all options they could, hoping they could find answers without getting anyone involved. Clary agreed and shut her phone off after sending a quick reply to Isabelle.

“I know you have more questions, but I think we’ve covered enough for one day.” Jocelyn said as she stood from the couch, clearing away the dishes from the takeout they had ordered from the coffee table and carrying it to the kitchen the throw away.

“Yeah, okay,” Clary picked up the rest of the trash and followed after her mother, “but we’re not done talking about this, right?”

“I promise, Clary, I’ll tell you everything.” Jocelyn smiled at her daughter and wished her goodnight. Clary gave her mom a hug and retreated to her bedroom. Once she heard the door close, Jocelyn pulled her own phone and dialed, pulling the device to her ear.

“Luke, we might have a problem.”

#  **~**

A still slightly sleepy Clary emerged from her room the next morning, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she plopped into a chair at the breakfast bar. She pulled a bowl and a box of cereal to her as she yawned and set about pouring herself some breakfast. It wasn’t until the gallon of milk slid into her field of view that Clary looked away from her food, finding both her mother and Luke staring at her.

“Oh, hey,” Clary mumbled and poured the milk into her bowl, scooping a spoonful into her mouth. “Everything okay?”

“I have to admit, I thought you might have been making it up,” Luke said, directing her comment towards Jocelyn. “Or maybe I was hoping you were.”

“Trust me, I wish this all a big joke.” Jocelyn muttered and took a long sip of her coffee.

“What are you two talking about?” Clary asked in between bites of her cereal.

“Your new friend,” Jocelyn began,

“And your first rune, apparently,” Luke finished. A beat passed in which Clary lifted her hand to her chest, covering the mark that was partially visible from the neckline of her top.

“Oh, right, that.” Clary looked hard at Luke. “Wait, you know? About the Shadow World?”

“We left that world together Clary,”

“Not exactly true,” Luke corrected Jocelyn, “I couldn’t make a clean break like your mom did, so I joined the New York pack.”

“Pack?” Clary blinked.

“Werewolves, although the whole thing about the moon isn’t entirely true.”

“Okay,” Clary set her spoon down in her empty bow and pushed it away from her, halfway wondering if she was being pranked. A flash of irritation sparked in her chest, one that she wasn’t sure had come from her and she gasped quietly. Running a hand through her hair with one hand and softly touching her mark with her other hand. “I guess that makes Dot a vampire. Does she complete the set?”

“No, actually, the Vampires live in an old hotel thankfully far from here,” Luke chuckled at Clary’s expression. “Dot is a warlock.”

A moment of silence passed as Clary processed what Luke had said. And then,

“I have so many questions.” Clary folded her hands together. “Starting with, why did you leave the Shadow World in the first place?” 

“That’s a very long, very complicated story,” Jocelyn and Luke exchanged a glance. 

“Well, it’s not like I have anywhere else to be,” Clary shrugged lightly and ignored the way her mother’s eyes narrowed. True, Clary could probably tone her attitude down a little bit but she figured that after seventeen years of lies, she deserved some truth. 

“Clary, you have to understand something. The Shadow World operates differently than the world you know. Children aren’t children, families act differently. Everything about being a Shadowhunter revolves around being a soldier. That isn’t the life I wanted for you.” 

“That still doesn’t tell me why you left,” Clary crossed her arms over her chest and felt another spike of irritation, though this time she thought half of it might have been her own. 

“I left to protect you, to give you a normal life without having to worry about you dying young at the hands of a demon.” Jocelyn spoke with more emotion than Clary had ever heard in her mother’s voice. Love and pain, a hint of regret and fierce protectiveness radiated off her mother. “And Luke,” 

“I came with her because I couldn’t be a Shadowhunter anymore.” Luke supplied, taking over the conversation and giving Jocelyn the chance to collect herself. “Shadowhunters, they tend to look down on Downworlders, werewolves, vampires, seelies and warlocks. Shadowhunters protect us but the alliance there has always been uneasy and some Shadowhunters felt like they should hunt Downworlders just like they do demons.” 

“I didn’t want you to be a part of that kind of society, I wanted you to be free to make your own choices about your life and your future.” Jocelyn shook her head. “All in vain, I suppose.” 

Clary covered the mark on her chest with hand to keep her mother from staring at it. “I’m still my own person Mom, we don’t even know what this means yet.” 

“I know,” Jocelyn smiled slightly but it soon slipped into a grimace. “That’s what scares me.” 

Clary looked between her mother and Luke, seeing the grim expressions on their faces. Her mother’s insistence that she needed to be protected plucked at the edges of Clary’s mind, something about it not quite settling right within her. Right then, Clary didn’t feel protected, she felt hidden. Betrayed. She felt like she’d been forced to hide part of herself her whole life, the part that wanted to soar above the clouds, the part that had been fascinated with everything magic related she could get her hands on. The part of her who had felt restless if she was sitting still for too long, the part of her who had turned the restlessness in a creative outlet just so she’d have something to do with her hands. 

Clary sighed, almost feeling an echoing release in her chest. She wanted to demand more answers from her mother and Luke, wanted to learn everything she could about this new world but she also didn’t feel like talking to them so much anymore. She’d rather draw or paint, by herself, and excused herself to do just that. 

“She deserves to know the truth.” Luke said lowly once Clary was out of sight. 

“Not yet,” Jocelny whispered back. 

“It better be soon. She’s not going to accept half truths forever.” Luke rested his hand on Jocelyn’s arm for a moment and then excused himself as well and headed to work. 

Jocelyn knew Luke was right but she couldn’t bring herself to tell Clary the whole story. Not yet. One day, Clary would know about her father, and her brother, and everything that Jocelyn had suffered through. 

One day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all it so far! 
> 
> As always, feel free to come yell at me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ambs-writes)


	4. Chapter 4

Izzy hit the ground hard, her staff clattering to the side. She let out a huff of frustration and flipped back onto her feet. She planted her feet and held her arms up, waiting for her brothers next attack. Alec and Jace stood side by side, also in fighting stances, but neither moved to attack. Instead they shared a look of slight confusion.

“Okay, you’ve been in a weird mood all morning.” Jace relaxed his stance, flipping the training blade in his hands so the edge ran along his forearm. Alec followed suit, tucking his own blade away. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Izzy sounded defensive even to her own ears.

“Yeah, I’m not buying that.” Alec scoffed. “You’ve been acting weird for a couple days now. Why?”

“I have not been acting weird.” Izzy defended herself, relaxing her stance to match her brothers.

“Did you have a fight with your boyfriend?” Jace questioned.

“Meliorn is not my boyfriend.” Jace and Alec gave Isabelle a look that clearly said, ‘yeah, sure,’ and cross their arms across their chests. “I haven’t even seen him recently.”

“I thought you saw him, like, two days ago?” Jace asked, clearly skeptical.

“Is that seriously all you think I do when I leave here?” Izzy rolled her eyes as Jace merely offered her a shrug in return. “Unbelievable.”

Izzy shook her head and picked up her staff, letting it shrink back into whip and then bracelet form and slipping the metal onto her wrist. Pushing past her brothers, Izzy left the training room without looking back though the heavy steps that followed after her told her she wasn’t alone.

“Izzy, wait, c’mon.” Alec called out as he and Jace trailed Isabelle from the training room, through the Ops Center and into the hallway that lead to their living quarters. “Look, we know something is up, just tell us.”

“There’s nothing up, and even if there was it’s none of your business.” Izzy’s stride didn’t falter as she kept walking towards her room, closing the door behind her once she entered and effectively locking her brothers out.

Jace and Alec stared at the wooden door blocking them from pestering their sister further. “We’re not letting this go, right?”

“Nope.” Alec said before pulling his parabatai away from Izzy’s door. They would figure out what was bothering her, by annoying it out of her if nothing else. That was a method they had perfected over the years.

Inside her room, Izzy pulled her hair down from the ponytail she had placed her hair in during training and took a seat at her vanity. With a fluid movement of her stele, Izzy deactivated the glamour hiding the strange rune-like mark she had acquired recently, the black lines decorating her skin just beside the rune of Angelic Power in the center of her chest. She traces over the rune lightly with her fingers tips, feeling it almost pulse in response. She feels the warmth increase for moment, an almost soothing pulse radiating through her body. She wonders if that came from Clary, if she could feel the heat that strongly because Clary was focusing on her mark itself.

She feels oddly empty in a way that she hadn’t felt before, not as though she’s missing a piece of her herself that she lost suddenly but a yearning for something she hadn’t known she needed. It was weird for her, Isabelle had never been so attached to anyone who wasn’t her family but she longed to see Clary again. This attachment was unnerving, Izzy was a Shadowhunter, had trained all her life to remain in control of herself and her emotions but she found herself completely overwhelmed with emotion in the wake of the two days since she met Clary. She could feel it simmering just below the surface of her skin. She felt antsy, almost like she was about to go into battle but no amount of physical activity released the tension she felt. She trained for hours, with and without her brothers, and felt just as restless when she steps out of the training as when she stepped in.

Gathering a clean set of clothes, Izzy stepped into her bathroom to clean up from training. She lingered under the spray for a little while, easing the physical tension in her shoulders and neck with the warm water, before stepped out and redressing after dying her hair. Now dressed, Izzy made her way back to the Ops Center and used her higher than average clearance to her advantage to access digital copies of the oldest records of runes that were available. She didn’t have high hopes of finding anything but she wanted to check every avenue she could before sneaking out to see Clary again. Truthfully, Isabelle thought that if something like this had ever happened before, it would have been kept off the records. The Clave had never been accepting of things that they didn’t understand, this strange mark and even stranger connection definitely fit the bill.

Making sure there wasn’t anyone looking over her shoulder, namely the two pests she called brothers, Isabelle set about her task with quiet determination. Just as she suspected, Izzy couldn’t find anything related to the bonding of souls that wasn’t directly tied to the parabatai rune. 

#  **~**

Jocelyn opened the door when Isabelle arrived at her home, and watched curiously as when, upon seeing one another again, both Clary and Izzy released a deep, cleansing breath. Clary seemed lighter than she had for the past week, like the stress of knowing her mother had lied to her for so long simple lifted away now that Izzy was there. It was a curious reaction to say the least, and part of Jocelyn burned to know what caused this connection between the two girls. The other half of her watched in amusement as Clary’s ears tinged pink in response to something Isabelle had said. She didn’t think Clary was even aware of the crush Jocelyn could tell she had on Isabelle. It was as obvious as the crush Simon used to have on Clary, before Clary had come out to him, which she had also been unaware of until Simon had told her about it. 

“Did you find anything?” Clary asked after greeting Isabelle with a shy smile, her cheeks tinged red. Isabelle smiled back before shaking her head to indicate a negative answer. 

“Nothing,” Izzy’s gaze turned to Jocelyn then, “there wasn’t anything in the Grey Book or any other rune database.” 

“So, what does that mean? It’s not a rune?” Clary asked, looking unsure. The stories her mom had told over the course of the last week swirled in her head, but they only added to her confusion. She felt like she was way out of her depth and an uncomfortable uncertainty settled in her stomach. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Isabelle frowning softly. Isabelle moved her hand slightly, almost experimentally and her fingers brushed against Clary’s. Suddenly, Clary felt a wave of reassurance fill her and she looked curiously over at Isabelle. Isabelle looked back at her with an intensity that would normally have made Clary look away. Instead, Clary fully tangled her fingers with Isabelle’s, not breaking eye contact. 

Jocelyn watched the interaction silently as golden light began to surround the two girls. The light seemed to pulse steadily, as if mimicking a heartbeat. The pulsing started erratically and then settled into a steady rhythm as Clary and Isabelle folded their hands together. Jocelyn almost called out to them, opening her mouth slightly to call her daughter’s name but the word died on her tongue as a tangible energy released from the two girls. It swirled out from them and then the light faded leaving the three women in the room, Jocelyn holding a hand to her chest in surprise and Clary and Isabelle with their hands locked together. 

“Do you feel that?” Clary asked softly, running the tips of her fingers on her free hand against the black lines on her chest. 

“It feels like...” Isabelle trailed off, unable to find the words to describe the deep feeling of  _ rightness _ that had settled within her. There was a curiosity that lingered around the edges of that feeling, a pull to learn more. It felt as if a part of Isabelle had opened up, a direct path to the girl standing beside her. 

“Yeah.” Clary agreed, sounding a little breathless. She could feel her wonder swirling around with something else she could feel but that she knew didn’t come from her. Isabelle squeezed her hand. 

“I don’t think it’s a rune.” Jocelyn said, reminding both of the girls that she was in the room with them. Clary and Izzy looked at one another for a moment and then turned to Jocelyn. 

“No,” Izzy said softly, “I think it’s more than that.” 

“There has to be a way we can figure out what this is.” Clary said, looking back and forth between her mother and Isabelle. 

“I’m not sure,” Jocelyn seemed to be speaking more to herself than to the girls as she began to pace the living room. Clary, recognizing that it might take her mother a few minutes to sort through her thoughts, pulled Izzy over to the couch and sat down, leaving a few inches separating them with their still joined hands resting in the space between their bodies. 

“If it’s not a rune, then maybe a spell? But the wards would have gone off if that was the case. Maybe the spell was cast away from here?” Jocelyn continued to voice her thoughts aloud, walking back and forth in a line on the other side of the coffee table. 

“She’s going to drive herself crazy until she figures this out,” Clary whispered to Izzy, sharing her slight amusement. “You covered your mark?” 

“Oh,” Isabelle looked at the spot on her chest where the unfamiliar design was hidden, “glamour rune, I didn’t want my brothers asking questions I don’t know the answer to.” Isabelle felt a jolt of surprise mixed with a fresh dose of curiosity. 

“You have brothers?” Clary asked, watching closely as Isabelle pulled out her stele and deactivated the rune covering her mark. Oddly, Clary felt a bit of relief as the mark came into view and she relaxed, the part of her that feared the mark had faded from Isabelle moving to the farthest reaches of her mind. Isabelle, feeling those same emotions, squeezed Clary’s hand gently. 

“I do, three of them, but only two here in New York. My youngest brother is with our parents in Alicante. Your mom apparently knows of my older brother, Alec.” Izzy answered with a smile, referring to the comment Jocelyn had made the last time they met. Clary had a vague memory of Jocelyn connecting Isabelle’s last name to someone named Alexander, but before Clary could ask any more questions, Jocelyn seemed to have had an idea and turned to the two girls seated on her couch. 

“I know a way we might be able to find out a little more about this.” Jocelyn said, pulling her phone out. 

“How?” Clary asked as her mother pulled her phone to her ear. 

“Magnus Bane.” 

~

“So, this Magnus guy he’s the High Warlock?” Clary asked as she and Isabelle followed her mother down the sidewalk near a posh apartment building. Isabelle nodded her head. “What does that mean?” 

“He’s one of the most powerful warlocks alive, definitely the most powerful in New York. Whenever we need magical help, he’s the one who the Clave contacts. He also keeps the other warlocks in line, helps keep the peace between the Downworlders so they don’t break the Accords.” 

“Right,” Clary said in a tone that indicated that Isabelle’s answer had created more questions than it had answered. Isabelle laughed slightly and squeezed Clary’s hand. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything later. There’s so much for you to learn.” Isabelle could feel Clary’s excitement about learning about the world she was now going to be a part of, though a large part of that excitement was hidden behind the apprehension of what they would find out from Magnus. 

“We’re here,” Jocelyn said, directing the girls to the door or the large complex to their right. The three women entered the building and headed towards the elevator, taking it up to the top floor. Clary felt a spike of almost nervous excitement from Isabelle as they approached the door and mirrored it. She was nervous to find out what had caused this connection, but she didn’t believe it was created with ill intentions. Somehow, Clary knew with a bone deep certainty that the new bond she shared with Isabelle would be a blessing in her life rather than a curse. 

“Jocelyn Fairchild,” a masculine voice called out as the ornate door was pulled open, “how lovely to see you again.” 

“Magnus,” Jocelyn greeted the man as he pulled the door open for her and the two girls with her to enter. 

“Ah, Clary, you’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you,” Magnus said, not stopping to acknowledge the slight frown on Clary’s lips at his words before turning to the last woman to enter. “Isabelle Lightwood, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. It’s not often that a Shadowhunter is as kind to Downworlders as you. Anyone care for a drink?” 

Magnus moved his hand, a swirl of blue energy dancing around his fingers and then suddenly he was holding a martini glass. 

“Magnus, please, we need your help.” Jocelyn declined the offer for a drink, determined to keep the conversation on track. 

“Yes, yes, of course. Follow me.” With another flourish, Magnus lead the three women further into the apartment. “I must say Jocelyn, you simply could not have been more vague over the phone. How can I help if I don’t know what’s going on?”

“We don’t know what’s going on, Magnus. That’s part of the problem.” Jocelyn pointed out. Magnus stared at her for a moment before nodding once and turning to the two younger women who stood near the doorway to his living room, hands clasped together.

“Right, ladies if you will,” Magnus gestured to his couch and waited patiently while Clary and Isabelle took their seats. Magnus offered Jocelyn a seat in his favorite armchair, which she declined in favor of hovering behind Magnus. Magnus tried not be annoyed at that, he could feel the worry coming from Jocelyn, but it was nothing compared to the waves of energy Clary and Isabelle were emitting.

“So,” Magnus began, “Jocelyn mentioned something about a rune like mark appearing on the both of you. Can I see it?”

Clary and Isabelle shared a look of consideration and then moved to pull the neckline of their respective tops down just enough to reveal the mark.

“Hmm,” Magnus inched closer to get a better look. Then, he looked directly at Clary and lifted one hand, the blue of his magic twisting around his fingers. “May I?”

“What are you going to do?” Clary asked, sounding just a bit nervous. Jocelyn noticed she had leant a little closer to Isabelle.

“A diagnostic spell, for lack of a better term,” Magnus explained, “I’m sure you can both feel the energy here, and I’m going to see if I can discover where it originates.”

“Okay,” Clary nodded her head, still looking unsure but relaxing slightly when Isabelle squeezed her hand. “Go ahead.”

Magnus moved his hand in the space near Clary’s chest, not touching the girl even as his blue magic surrounded the mark on her skin. Magnus’s brow furrowed in concentration and he looked over at Isabelle, lifting his other hand. Isabelle nodded after a moment and her own mark was covered in blue magic as well.

“Incredible,” Magnus murmured as the glow increased. He moved his fingers with practiced ease, noticing that the girls were still holding on to one another. “Girls, do me a favor and let go of each other’s hands?”

Clary looked as Isabelle, who shrugged slightly, and granted the request. Magnus smiled slightly and moved his hands away, the glow of his magic fading from view. He stared at the girls for a moment in silence before snapping his fingers. Clary jumped slightly as a large, dusty tome landed in Magnus’s lap. Isabelle giggle slightly at the reaction, earning an annoyed look and elbow to the side from Clary, neither of which discouraged Isabelle’s laughter.

Jocelyn glanced between the girls on the couch and Magnus, who seemed engrossed in the large book he held, for a moment before she began to pace along the length of the coffee table. Soft voices reached her ears, Isabelle was telling Clary more about her brothers. They both seemed wholly unbothered by the whole situation and completely oblivious to the worry that now consumed Jocelyn. She had been hoping to keep Clary out of the Shadow World, forever if she could. That world had destroyed her family, twisted her husband until she didn’t recognize him anymore, took her son from her. She never wanted to lose Clary to that world, too.

“You can stop trying to wear a hole in my floor,” Magnus said sometime later and closed the book he held with a loud  _ thump _ .

“Well? Do you know what this is?” Jocelyn questioned as Magnus stood up.

“Well, no, at least not entirely. I’ve got a few theories but nothing concrete.” Jocelyn sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. Magnus snapped his fingers again and the book disappeared, replaced by what looked to be a single piece of faded yellow parchment. “I’d like to test one of those theories, if you don’t mind.”

“Test how?” Isabelle asked curiously. She was a little excited to see Magnus practice his magic so freely, Isabelle had always been amazed at the power warlocks had. Still, her upbringing had told her to not trust downworlders, no matter how interesting their gifts might be. Isabelle could only imagine the conniption her mother would have if she learned of these events.

“The two of you are connected, obviously,” Magnus stated, gesturing for Clary and Isabelle to follow him into a different room, one with a large open space in the middle. “If I can determine how deep that connection goes, the number of theories I have will reduce drastically.”

“What do we need to do?” Clary asked, looking over her shoulder at her mother as she followed them into the room. She noticed the worry lines on her mother’s forehead but decided to wait until they were back home to comment on them.

“Lay down, Isabelle place your head here and Clary, you go here,” Magnus instructed as he conjured two pillows for the girls and placed them in the spots he indicated. Isabelle laid down first and then Clary. They were positioned parallel to one another, Isabelle’s feet in the space beside Clary’s head and vice versa. A little bit of space separated their hands and, under direction from Magnus, they each wiggled around a bit until they could tangle their fingers together.

“Now, whatever happens, don’t move.” Magnus waited for each of the girls to vocalize their consent before he began the spell. Isabelle and Clary watched in fascination as Magnus moved his arms around his body, twitching his fingers this way and that as he spoke in a language neither of them recognized. They could feel the energy levels in the room rise as they were surrounded by blue light.

Suddenly, Clary felt weightless. Her vision was overtaken by light until she couldn’t see anything, all her senses dimmed except for the feeling of Isabelle’s hand in hers. A tangible light burst from her chest, arching over her in a stunning cascade. It reminded Clary of a shooting star. Clary tried to sit up and follow the arch of light but found that she couldn’t move. She needn’t have tried to move as soon a second arch of light joined the first and they met in the middle in a dazzling explosion, two arches becoming one.

Clary and Isabelle jolted upright in tandem, both of their chests heaving. Like in the loft before, they found that they couldn’t look away from one another until a noise drew their attention away. This time it was a laugh from Magnus that finally called them out of their trance, and they looked at him. Magnus laughed again, a disbelieving chuckle as the parchment he held disappeared.

“Did you prove any of your theories?” Isabelle asked as she helped Clary to her feet. Magnus looked at them and then at Jocelyn, who stood to the side with a bewildered look on her face. Magnus waved his hand and a cup of dark liquid appeared in Jocelyn’s hand.

“Yes, I believe I did.” Magnus nearly floated over to the two girls, taking each of their free hands in his own. “Oh, biscuit, you’ve grown up so much,” Magnus said before turning to Jocelyn.

“Please, just tell me, Magnus.” Jocelyn said after a long silence in which the warlock seemed to be mulling over his words.

“Well, if you insist,” Magnus gestured to Clary and Isabelle. “The two of you are connected, right down to your very souls. The connection runs deep, and I doubt there is any power on earth that can break it.”

“Like parabatai?” Isabelle questioned. That was the only kind of bond she knew of that could connect two people’s souls. Clary looked at her questioningly and Izzy responded with a look that said she’d explain later.

“Similar, yes. I can’t be sure without a parabatai bond here to read as well, but this feels much deeper than that.” Magnus watched the cogs turn in Isabelle’s head and waited for her to voice the question her thought was coming.

“What could be deeper than the parabatai bond?” Isabelle asked, just as Magnus had expected. He shot a side glance at Jocelyn and debated conjuring a drink for her before deciding against it and turning back to the girls.

“Bear in mind that this is a theory, but from my somewhat limited knowledge of Shadowhunter bondings,” Magnus gestured vaguely with his hand in the direction of Clary and Isabelle, “this seems to act like a fusion of a parabatai bond, and marriage bond.”

Clary and Isabelle looked at one another in shock and Jocelyn’s expression seemed to indicate that she wished she had accepted Magnus’s earlier offer for a drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all are enjoying this so far and thank you for the lovely comments! 
> 
> As always, feel free to come yell at me over on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ambs-writes)


	5. Chapter 5

“Did you say ‘marriage bond’?” Jocelyn asked in a hoarse whisper after downing the drink Magnus had conjured for her. A wave of his hand refilled the glass. 

“No, I said a combination of the marriage bond and the parabatai bond,” Magnus replied without a hint of doubt. “I believe fusion was the word used, but I’m not sure of the logistics just yet.” 

“I don’t understand,” Clary said as she claimed the seat she had held previously, Isabelle falling into place beside her. “What does this mean? What is a parabatai bond?”

“It’s a way for Shadowhunters to connect their souls, they can sense one another and track one another. They share power, in battle their hearts beat as one.” Isabelle explained quickly, hoping Clary would let that be for now and let Isabelle give a better explanation later on.

“Okay, so our souls connected?” Clary questioned the room at large, but her gaze lingered on Izzy. That would explain the feeling Clary had right after she and Isabelle and seen each other again at the loft, like a missing piece of her had slotted into place. “Didn’t we figure that out before whatever that light show was?”

“Yes, I think we can all agree on that aspect,” Magnus refilled Jocelyn’s drink for her, making it a double this time. She knocked it back almost as quickly as she had the first.

“But, how?” Isabelle questioned. “Parabatai have a ceremony and an oath to go with the rune, not just a light show.” Isabelle shot a quick glance at Clary, trying to gauge her reaction. There was far too much confusion swirling within her for Isabelle to differentiate between her confusion and Clary’s. Clary’s expression was open in a way Isabelle wasn’t used to, her confusion and curiosity written across her face as clear as day.

“That, I’m not certain of,” Magnus replied, “there is still much research to be done, not all of which will be easily accessible. There are a few things that I’m sure about, but I don’t have the whole picture yet.”

“What are you sure about?” Isabelle asked, leaning forward slightly in interest. She could feel Clary doing the same, their hands brushing together. She felt a flare of something from Clary, a surprising burst of calm and affection that remained for a moment after Clary moved her hand away.

“Well, I know that a portion of the bond you share remains incomplete,” Magnus conjured another drink for himself and Jocelyn, and then one each for Clary and Izzy after a moment of internal debate. “As I said, I’m not sure on the specifics as of yet but the bond seems to have formed in stages.”

“I guess that would make sense,” Clary said with a glance over at Isabelle. “It must have started when we shook hands.”

“Something happened when the two of you met?” Magnus asked, listening intently as Izzy explained the light that had surrounded them when they met at the Inferno the week before, how no one else had noticed the light nor did either she or Clary notice the new marks on their skin until they reached Clary’s home and Jocelyn pointed them out.

“Something similar happened before we came here,” Clary continued, “it was like something opened inside me, a pathway. I could feel you,” Clary looked at Isabelle, “I still can.”

“Hmm,” Magnus hummed thoughtfully, unnoticed by the two young women who were busy staring at one another. Magnus could only imagine what they were feeling, but he knew this bond had been created between them for a reason. He could still sense the power in it, which only created more questions. “And this light was visible the second time?”

“Yes,” Jocelyn answered, having finally found her voice again. “I watched it grow around them.”

“You must have done something, triggered the next phase of the bond. Was there a burst of energy, or a pulse maybe?”

“The light pulse, like a heartbeat. It was erratic at first and then settled into a steady rhythm.”

“There was a pulse of energy when we met, big enough for the Institute to pick up on. My brothers and I were sent to investigate the source at the bar we met at.” Isabelle spoke up. “I won’t know until I get back to the Institute, but it probably happened again tonight.”

“Can you hide the energy? From the Institute I mean,” Jocelyn directed her words to Izzy. “I don’t think we need to Institute knocking on our door right now, even if it is you and your brothers sent to investigate.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Isabelle said, mostly confident she could at least erase the log for the night if nothing else of interest had happened.

“Hearts beating as one, sharing emotions,” Magnus shook his head lightly, “matching tattoos. All the makings of a teen romance novel.” He chuckled slightly. “I’m sure you both have several questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. I promise.”

“Thank you, Magnus,” Clary said, smiling at the man. Magnus smiled back and reached over to pat her knee.

“Anytime, Biscuit. Jocelyn, a word before you leave. We must discuss payment, after all.” Magnus set his empty glass on the coffee table and pulled Jocelyn from the room.

They moved several rooms away, not wanting to be overheard.

“Please tell me this is all an elaborate joke.” Jocelyn said, rubbing her hand over her face. “They’re married?” Although her daughter and Isabelle seemed to have glossed over the marriage bond part of Magnus’s theory, Jocelyn had not. In fact, she was pretty stuck on that part.

“To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure. As I said, portions of the bond remain incomplete. I believe they are important to each other, in a way that could very well lead them to a happy marriage, however I don’t believe that part of the bond will be completed until the marriage is consummated. I guess you could simply consider them as very close friends, perhaps even engaged, at this point, if it would make things easier for you.” Magnus offered with a half sort of shrug.

“It doesn’t.”

“I told her you couldn’t protect her forever.” Magnus’s voice grew firmer as his anger rose. He’d never liked erasing Clary’s memories of the Shadow World from her head, he hated taking that part of her life away from her but Jocelyn had proved to be a loyal friend and Magnus would be lying if he said he hadn’t formed a soft spot for the Fray women. “What are you going to do when she realizes you erased her memories?”

“She won’t know, she can’t.” Jocelyn stood firm. “I did what I had to do, to protect my daughter. She’ll understand that.”

“How well will she understand when she learns who her father really is?” Magnus asked heatedly. As fond as he was of Clary and Jocelyn, he couldn’t stand liars or manipulators and Jocelyn was adept at both practices, even if she claimed to do so only for the safety of her daughter.

“She has enough to worry about, learning about this world.” Jocelyn shook her head slightly. “She doesn’t need to be burdened with Valentine. Not now.” Not ever, if Jocelyn could help it.

“That may not be your decision to make anymore.” Magnus pointed out.

“She’s still my daughter.” Jocelyn matched Magnus’s angry tone.

“Yes, but she’s not a child anymore. You tried so hard to keep her out of this world, and it found her anyway. You should consider yourself lucky that it was Isabelle who introduced Clary to the Shadow World, instead of a demon attack that would have left her dead. Or worse, Valentine coming back for the Mortal Cup.”

With that, Magnus turned on his heel and left the room, before Jocelyn could have had any sort of physical reaction. Magnus half expected to be slapped in the face when Jocelyn caught up to him in the living room but instead, she avoided eye contact with him and addressed her daughter and apparent daughter in law.

“It’s late, we should be going. Isabelle, I’m sure they’ll be looking for you at the Institute soon.”

“You’re right,” Isabelle said after checking the time on her phone. It was fairly late, just before 3 a.m. She would be expected in the training room in only a few hours.

“Go, get some sleep, I’ll contact you all when I have more answers.” Magnus lead them to the loft door, almost giddy to begin researching this strange event. It had been a long time since he’d been involved in anything this exciting.

“Thank you for your help, Magnus. We appreciate it,” Clary said, seemingly speaking for herself and Izzy who nodded along.

“My pleasure, Biscuit. Jocelyn, don’t forget the price we discussed.”

“We’ll see you soon Magnus.” Jocelyn worked to keep her tone even and not reveal her anger with the warlock to Clary and Izzy. He had no business telling her how to take care of her daughter, no matter that his intentions were pure. They filed out of the apartment and headed down the stairs, catching a cab back to the loft. Some of the adrenaline of the night seemed to have faded from Clary by the time they reached home, as she leaned her head against Isabelle’s shoulder and blinked sleepily.

“I should head back; they’ll be expecting me for morning training soon.” Isabelle said once the cab had pulled away from the curb. She felt hesitant to leave, but she needed to process everything that had happened over the course of the night.

“Okay, text me when you get there.” Clary said, pulling Isabelle into a hug. Her arms wrapped around Izzy’s shoulders, pulling her close as Isabelle’s arms encircled her waist. She could feel the swirling emotions building in Isabelle and did her best to keep her own to herself, they both needed the time to sort out their own feelings without worrying about them being shared. “I’ll see you soon?”

“Of course, bye Clary, Ms. Fray,” Isabelle nodded towards Jocelyn and then turned and began to move away at a brisk jog.

“C’mon,” Jocelyn said, tugging on her daughter’s arm and pulling her inside their home. “You need sleep, we can talk about all of this in the morning.”

Clary nodded her agreement, hugging her mother goodnight and making her way to her bedroom. She changed into sleep clothes quickly and settled under her blankets, absently rubbing at the mark on her chest. She couldn’t believe what Magnus had said. Sharing a bond with Izzy made sense to Clary, she had felt that connection form and then solidify, even if she hadn’t understood what was happening at the time. Still, she was hesitant to completely accept this bond. Although she tried to act normal around her mother, her trust had been shaken. It had not been easy to learn that her mother and Luke had been lying to her for so long, with every intention to keep lying to her had she not met Isabelle. She wasn’t sure if she could trust anything her mother said anymore, which only caused more confusion and frustration for Clary. If she couldn’t trust her mother, could she trust anyone?

Clary’s phone beeped and she picked it up from the bedside table, reading the text Izzy had sent saying she was back at the Institute. Clary replied with thumbs up emoji and a goodnight, her phone beeping a second later with a similar message from Izzy in response. Feeling drained from the adrenaline of finding out she and Isabelle had formed such a deep bond, along with all she had learned about the Shadow World, Clary set her phone down and made sure it was plugged in to charge before rolling into a comfortable position to get some sleep. In moments she was dreaming, of gleaming towers and glowing blades, white wings and startling golden light.

At the Institute, Izzy slipped her phone back into her pocket and used her free hand to manipulate the screen she was standing by. Just as she suspected, two large bursts of unknown energy had been recorded that night, one at the Fray loft and one at Magnus’s apartment, with several smaller traces in the hours leading up to the first one. After a moment of internal debate, Izzy decided it would be best to erase the log for the day and replace it with a copy of the previous day. She felt oddly protective, of both Clary and the secret they now shared. This bonding was strange, and she kept thinking back to what Magnus had described it as. A cross between the parabatai bond and a marriage bond.

Izzy had only ever considered having a parabatai once before, right before her brothers were going to undergo the ceremony themselves. She remembered Alec’s hesitance to go through with it, his unsaid confession of his true feelings for Jace. She remembered standing with Jace while the minutes ticked away and Alec had yet to show up, and the relief on Jace’s face when Alec finally walked in. Izzy had never been able to imagine herself trusting someone enough to share that kind of bond, and despite a few brief moments of jealousy about the power the parabatai bond granted Jace and Alec, Izzy had never wanted to share that bond. She had always fought alone and that had been fine with her. She could form plans, execute them, and trust that her brothers would get their part of the mission done without compromising her. It had worked well for them, they were one of the best three man teams.

Now, it seemed, Izzy did have a partner to contend with. Even then, with Clary on the other side of town in her own home and Izzy settling into her bed at the Institute, Izzy could feel Clary. Not her emotions as much anymore, only a vague sense of comfort that lead Izzy to believe Clary was asleep, but her presence was still there clear as day. They were connected, completely, even considering what Magnus had said about the bond not being fully completed yet. Izzy could feel that even if the bond never completed, Clary would still be a part of her life. Surprisingly, Izzy wasn’t as upset by that idea. She wanted to know Clary, she’d been intrigued by the beautiful redhead even before they had shaken hands at the club. Clary seemed so free, so full of life and Isabelle wanted to know what that was like. 

Izzy hadn’t asked for this bond with Clary, and she refused to think about the implications of Magnus’ description as being a mix between the parabatai and marriage bond, but she couldn’t find it in herself to be truly upset about it. She felt a little unsettled, a bit worried even but more about what would happen once the Clave discovered two Shadowhunters, one without any training at all, living in New York right under their noses. It wouldn’t be easy to explore whatever had happened between them with Clary living in the mundane world and Izzy living in the Shadow World. But, Izzy thought as she fell asleep, most easy things aren’t really worth the effort anyway. Dreaming of black runes and golden light, Izzy knew that this bond she had with Clary would be more than worth the effort it would take to protect it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed!


	6. Chapter 6

“Jocelyn, we knew this would happen eventually. She’s going to ask more questions that need honest answers. Maybe Magnus was right.” Luke hastily placed his hands in a placating gesture when Jocelyn turned to glare at him with sharp eyes. They were alone in the Fray loft, Clary was out with Simon for their weekly tradition of getting coffee after school on Fridays. Their senior year of high school had just begun and Jocelyn was worried about Clary learning more about the Shadow World instead of trying to get into a good college. “I just mean that maybe we shouldn’t try to keep any more secrets from her. If we do, she’ll just ask Izzy.” 

“That’s what scares me,” Jocelyn said. “The Lightwood girl doesn’t know why I left the Shadow World, she doesn’t know what I’m protecting Clary from.” 

“Her name is Isabelle,” Luke said pointedly. “You should probably learn it since she’s going to be part of Clary’s life whether we like it or not.” 

“Clary is seventeen years old, she has no business being married, magically formed bond or otherwise.” Jocelyn insisted hotly. In the two weeks since she had visited Magnus last, Jocelyn had moved from utter bafflement to outright refusing to acknowledge Clary’s bond with Isabelle. 

“Clary is almost an adult, maybe we should start treating her like one. She’s old enough to make her own decisions, and they’re not married yet.” 

Jocelyn scoffed, “You say that like you’re okay with all of this. Don’t you feel like Clary’s choice has been taken away?” 

“Don’t you feel like you took Clary’s choice away when you erased any memories she had of our world?” Luke countered. Part of him worried that he had stepped over the line but it was something he felt needed to be talked about. Jocelyn had been quietly complaining about Clary’s destiny being determined for her to him since they confirmed the soul bond between the girls. He hated to admit it, but it seems hypocritical coming from Jocelyn since she had been hiding who Clary was for her entire life. 

“I was protecting her, I’m her mother.” 

“And Isabelle is her friend, that’s all they are right now. Friends.” Luke said firmly. “Maybe they’ll be more someday, maybe they won’t. That’s not something for anyone but Clary and Izzy to decide, bond or not.” 

“But Magnus said the bond,” 

“Magnus said he didn’t know exactly what the bond is.” Luke interrupted and moved to kneel in front of Jocelyn, holding her arms gently. “I know you want to protect her, and you have but now you need to let Clary choose.” 

“The more she delves into the Shadow World, the easier it will be for Valentine to find her,” Jocelyn said hoarsely. “She has no idea of the danger she’s in.” 

“Then teach her to defend herself. You’re a warrior, a Shadowhunter and so is Clary. Teach her to fight at least, and I’ll help.” Luke was willing to bet that Isabelle would help too, but he wasn’t going to bring that up just then. 

“Can you stop being the voice of reason for a second?” Jocelyn asked facetiously and Luke chuckled in return. “I just wanted her to have a normal life,” 

“Who says this can’t be her new normal?” The question was rhetorical enough that Luke didn’t expect an answer and Jocelyn didn’t offer one. Before complete silence could cover them, however, the front door opened and Simon and Clary walked in laughing. 

Luke stood quickly and greeted the kids as Jocelyn moved into the kitchen to start fixing dinner for them. Clary and Simon dropped their school bags on the couch and each claimed a stool in the kitchen, in the process of telling a very convoluted story about someone who had nearly started a food fight at school. Jocelyn and Luke listened to Simon’s increasingly wild story with fond exasperation while Clary rolled her eyes next to him. 

Jocelyn watched Clary closely, observing how she was fidgeting more than normal. Clary kept twisting her fingers together in a way that Jocelyn recognized from when Clary was a kid and wanted to reach for a fresh batch of cookies right after they came out of the oven but knew she would get burned if she did. A few times, Clary lifted her hand to touch the mark hidden beneath a layer of makeup on her chest. She kept looking at her phone too like she was expecting a call. While Simon was distracted, Jocelyn took the opportunity to move a little closer to Clary. 

“Is everything okay?” 

“It’s Izzy,” Clary whispered back, soft enough that Simon couldn’t hear her. “I think, it is anyway. I feel restless, tense.” 

Jocelyn frowned slightly as Clary rubbed at her mark again, the black lines slowly becoming visible again. Jocelyn took Clary’s hand to keep her from completely exposing the mark since Simon was there with clear plans to stay for dinner as he often did. Jocelyn wasn’t sure Simon would ever completely let go of his crush on Clary, even though he’d known that Clary wasn’t attracted to the opposite sex since they were fifteen. “Is there something wrong?” 

“I don’t think so,” Clary replied softly, “I don’t think she’s upset about anything. It’s hard to tell. I can’t tell what she’s feeling apart from what I’m feeling.” Clary sighed and leaned her head against her mother’s shoulder. “This is confusing.” 

“You’ll figure it out.” Jocelyn ran her fingers through Clary’s hair in a soothing motion and tried to sound as supportive as she could. 

“I hope so,” Clary mumbled before pulling away from her mother to remind Simon of their science homework. Simon grumbled good-naturedly as they pulled their things from their bags and set to work. The atmosphere was normal enough that Clary could almost forget about the new world she was learning about, except for the steady pulse and restless energy she could feel radiating from her bond with Izzy. Although they’d been texting every day since the last time they saw each other, it didn’t feel the same. The feeling in Clary’s chest was nearly pulling on her as if it was trying to get her to physically go see Izzy in person, which Clary was sorely tempted to do. But, Clary had promised to give Izzy space and she would keep her promise even though she desperately wanted to just be in the same room as Izzy again. 

Across the city, Isabelle spent another training session dodging questions from her brothers and quickly left the Institute after receiving a text from Magnus saying he wanted to run another test. It took longer than it probably should have to reach Magnus’ apartment but Izzy wanted to make sure she hadn’t been followed. When she finally arrived, she was surprised to see that Clary wasn’t there. 

“I thought you said you had another test to do?” Izzy asked as Magnus directed her to his sitting room. “Where’s Clary?” 

“Well, for this particular test I only need one of you present, and since you’re more familiar with the Shadow World I thought it should be you,” Magnus explained with a flourish of his hand. Two large pillows appeared on the floor of the sitting room and Magnus gestured for Isabelle to sit on one. “I need to, for lack of a better term, read your energy. When Clary was here, I could barely distinguish your energy from hers, so I’d like to read you both individually. If you don’t mind that is?” 

“What do you mean by read my energy?” Izzy asked as she sat on the provided pillow after removing her shoes. 

“Every living being on earth emits energy, in different forms. While unseen, these energies can affect us greatly. Anything from knowing it’s going to rain to choosing a restaurant to eat at. Mundanes emit a different form of energy than Shadowhunters, and Shadowhunters emit different energy than warlocks and so on and so forth.” Magnus explained as he pulled a bottle of crushed leaves from his pocket and opened it. “This test is simply to see if your energy has changed since your bonding with Clary and if it is different in her absence.” 

“What do you need to know that?” Isabelle watched Magnus carefully, almost enthralled by his movements as a blue shimmer danced over his fingertips. 

“If I can discover the energy of the bond, perhaps I can find its origin.” Magnus paused his motions, the blue around his fingers swirling without moving. “You do want to know what has happened to you, don’t you?” 

“Of course, I do,” Isabelle admitted. She’d researched as much as she could at the Institute, but couldn’t find anything regarding the bonding of souls that didn’t refer to parabatai. “I just think Clary has a right to know as well.” 

“And she will, I’ll be performing the same test on her later on.” Magnus did his best to sound reassuring. “Perhaps you could call her yourself once this is done? I’ll have to send you outside while I’m performing the test on her, but after we could discuss the bond itself some more.” 

“Okay,” Isabelle agreed. She felt a little more comfortable knowing that Clary wouldn’t be left out, but she was still a little hesitant to keep testing this bond. She’d already been distracted because of it for the past two weeks, enough that her brothers had noticed and started asking more and more questions, and she didn’t want that to continue. At least if they knew what the bond was, exactly, she could stop worrying about it so much. “Let’s do this.” 

“Excellent, now. Close your eyes and try not to move.” Magnus instructed gently. Izzy did as she was told after a quick nod, focusing on her breathing as Magnus began his test. 

She could feel his magic wrapping around her, like a cool breeze drifting across her skin. Something within her rose to meet the magic and Izzy suddenly felt like she had lightning in her veins. Electricity danced across her limbs and goosebumps rose along her arms in its wake. She wanted to move, her mind traced a path for her to follow and Izzy did so without hesitation, weaving across New York streets until she passed through a door she had seen only a few times, and she came to a stop in what she recognized as the Fray living room. Jocelyn was sitting on the couch with a dark-skinned man Izzy thought she might have seen before but couldn’t be sure. On the floor across from the couch with books and papers spread around her was Clary, the boy Izzy vaguely recognized from the night they met beside her. Izzy thought his name was Simon. 

Izzy still felt overcharged and took a step in Clary’s direction where she could see the end of the path her mind had been leading her too. Just as Izzy moved Clary looked up and over her shoulder. Her eyes landed on Izzy and she half turned before pausing. The light connecting them pulsed once as they made eye contact and they each moved in tandem to touch the hidden marks on their chest. Neither girls noticed Clary’s family looking curiously at the redhead as she said Izzy’s name in a barely audible whisper. To Izzy, it sounded like Clary was right beside her. Izzy tried to take another step forward and found that she couldn’t. Her right hand lifted, reaching for Clary and then Izzy was pulled away. The city blurred around her until she found herself in Magnus’ apartment, breathing hard and feeling suddenly drained. 

“That was an adventure,” Magnus said thoughtfully. “Are you alright?” 

“I’m fine,” Izzy touched her glamoured mark with her right hand, “what did you find?” 

“That question has a complicated answer, one that would be better if given to both Clary and yourself. Shall I make the call?” Magnus pulled his cell phone out of his pocket but before he could dial, Izzy’s phone rang. 

Izzy fished the device from the pocket of her jeans and pulled it to her ear. “Clary?” 

“Izzy,” Clary almost sighed the name. “Am I imagining things or were you just in my living room?” 

“You’re not imagining things,” Izzy looked over at Magnus. “I’m not sure what just happened, honestly. Magnus was running a test.” 

“What kind of test? Is everything okay?” Clary sounded concerned and a slight feeling of worry rose in Isabelle to match, a projection from Clary. 

“Everything’s fine, I think,” Izzy let her own emotions spread into the bond to send Clary a wave of reassurance. “Do you think you can come to Magnus’ place? He wants to run the same test on you.” 

“Yeah,” Clary sounded like she had moved away from the phone slightly, probably looking over her shoulder. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” 

They traded good-byes and hung up. Izzy turned back to a thoughtful Magnus. 

“I guess your little soul walk wasn’t as little as I thought it was,” Magnus said softly, Izzy thought he was talking to himself more than her. “I wonder if…” Magnus trailed off and shook his head. “No, it can’t be. That’s a legend, pure myth. Then again, all legends have a kernel of truth, small as that kernel may be.” 

Izzy watched as Magnus paced out of the room, continuing to talk to himself. It seemed to her that Magnus had an inkling of what had happened, but he wasn’t quite ready to reveal it to her. Hopefully, Izzy wouldn’t have to wait too much longer for answers. Magnus returned a few moments later with a book in his hands, mouthing the words on the page as he read. While he did, Izzy pulled out her stele and removed the glamour covering her mark. She felt oddly relieved as the mark came into few, like the mark itself was happy to be visible once again. 

Clary arrived right when she said she would, with Jocelyn and the man Izzy hadn’t recognized with her. Magnus put his book aside and moved to greet his guests and lead them into the sitting room where Isabelle was. Just as the last time they had seen each other, Clary and Isabelle felt like they could breathe a little easier now that they were together and neither could resist the urge to pull one another into a warm hug. 

“Lucian Graymark, a pleasure to see you,” Magnus greeted the man and shook his hand, nodding at Jocelyn in greeting as well. 

“Magnus,” Luke inclined his head and then turned to the two girls pulling out of their hug. “And you must be Isabelle.” 

“Izzy, this is Luke,” Clary introduced them. “He’s-” 

“A werewolf,” Izzy said, having recognized his name from the list of known New York Pack members. 

“And a friend,” Jocelyn said, a defensive edge to her voice. Clary took a slight step forward in response without realizing it, angling her body so Isabelle was slightly behind her. It was a protective, instinctual move that didn’t go unnoticed by anyone in the room.

“Mom, take it easy,” Clary said tensely. She relaxed a bit when Isabelle took her hand. 

“It’s okay, Clary,” Izzy said, “Shadowhunters and Downworlders don’t have the best relationship, but I’m not like the other Shadowhunters.” 

“I’ll say,” Magnus’s comment went unremarked upon though not unheard. 

“I believe you,” Luke sounded sincere. He and Izzy shared an understanding look and Luke turned to Magnus. “You think you know what happened to them?” 

“Almost positive in fact, but I do need to check one thing. If everyone who isn’t Clary can step into the hall for a moment, please,” Magnus requested. Jocelyn looked like she wanted to protest but Luke pulled her out of the room before she could. Izzy squeezed Clary’s hand and sent her a short burst of reassurance before stepping out as well. She just hears Magnus directing Clary to take a seat while he ran his test when the door swung shut behind her. 

Isabelle leaned on one side of the door, Luke and Jocelyn across from her. 

“You were actually in our living room?” Jocelyn asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. 

“Not physically,” Isabelle said, shrugging slightly. “I didn’t mean to go there, but I was drawn there. Whatever this is between Clary and me, it guided me to her.” 

“I thought she was just sensing you when she said your name,” Jocelyn said, “she thought you had seemed restless all day.” 

“I had been before I got here.” Izzy didn’t offer any other explanation. She could sense Clary throughout the day as well, mostly a sense of boredom that sometimes shifted to amusement. Right then, Izzy could feel Clary’s nerves and exhilaration. She looked up sharply as Clary was suddenly filled with a rush of adrenaline and amazement. 

Her eyes found Clary, standing five feet from her. She was transparent almost to the point that Izzy could see right through her but defined enough for Izzy to clearly see her. Clary was looking back and forth between Isabelle and the empty space between them. Izzy knew Clary was seeing the same golden path that had been visible to her earlier. Their eyes met again and Clary stretched out her hand, a beat passed and Clary disappeared just as quickly as she appeared. Izzy didn’t hesitate to enter the apartment again and headed straight to the sitting room. She found Clary there, breathing hard with a dazed sort of smile on her face and Magnus looking somewhere baffled and astounded. 

“That was a trip,” Clary said, smiling up at Isabelle who held out her hand to help Clary off the floor. “No wonder I felt so much adrenaline coming from you earlier.” Izzy chuckled slightly and pulled Clary over to the couch. 

“I don’t believe it,” Magnus said as he too rose from the floor. “Incredible.” 

“Magnus?” Jocelyn asked. Clary hadn’t even realized that her mother and Luke had entered moments after Isabelle. “Do you know what happened?” 

“Yes, I do,” Magnus looked at Jocelyn for a moment and then over to Clary and Isabelle. “It’s astounding, simply astounding. I never thought this would happen, not like this.” 

“What is it?” Jocelyn demanded, annoyed with Magnus’s theatrics. He shook his head at her. 

“I can’t tell you,” 

“Of course you can tell us-” Jocelyn began but Magnus cut her off with a wave of his hand. 

“No, I’m going to tell Clary and Isabelle. They can tell you if they want too.” Magnus spoke like there was no room for argument, which Jocelyn clearly thought there was. She opened her mouth to retort but Clary stopped her. 

“It’s okay, Mom,” Clary said from her place beside Isabelle. “Just let Magnus explain this to us, and we can tell you about it later?” The last part was phrased as a question and directed toward Isabelle. Izzy nodded her head slightly. “I’ll meet you back at home.” 

Jocelyn wanted to demand she be allowed to stay but looking at Magnus’ resolute expression and not wanting to start an argument with her daughter, Jocelyn decided that it would be better to leave well enough alone. She was sure Clary would tell her everything later, they’d always been able to talk to one another. 

At least they used to be. 

Clary and Isabelle waited in silence as Jocelyn and Luke left, squeezing each other’s hands as the same question rolled around in both of their minds. What was Magnus going to tell them? They both thought that whatever it was, it would change everything for them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this is a day late! I've been trying to keep to Sunday updates but we'll probably be switching to every other Sunday after this update until I finish my school papers. I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you for the next one. Thank you for all the lovely comments and kudos, I'll try to respond to them as they come in from now on but I make no promises. 
> 
> As always, feel free to come yell at me over on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ambs-writes)


	7. Chapter 7

“Now, what I’m about to tell you is going to sound strange.” Magnus began after leading Clary and Isabelle to the balcony where he had them sit on the couch and placed the book he’d been reading from earlier on the table before them. “It might be hard to believe, but I know I’m not wrong.” 

“How do you know that?” Clary asked with a raised eyebrow. Magnus dusted invisible lint off of his shoulder. 

“I’m never wrong.” Magnus offered them a confident smile, ignoring the look Izzy and Clary shared a look that clearly expressed doubt. “Just, look at this page please.” 

“ _ Coniucta animae, _ ” Izzy read from the elegantly written words from the page. Clary traced her finger over the words and then across the symbol printed on the page just below them. 

“Our mark,” Clary whispered, looking up at Izzy as she moved closer. 

“What does this mean?” Izzy asked Magnus. “It sounds like Latin but I’ve never heard this phrase before.” 

“It is Latin,” Magnus confirmed. “It means ‘connected souls’. The passage there is the only known record of this happening before.” 

“What does it say?” Clary asked, impressed that Izzy apparently knew Latin but unable to read it herself. 

“A legend, from the time of Jonathan Shadowhunter. Before the Angels left the earth in the protection of the nephilim, the Angel Camiel was said to have stretched his wings over the people and imbue them with the ability to form a connection between souls so that those who lost their life or love in the battle against evil, would meet that person again in the next life. Only two Shadowhunters were willing to test the bond, but when they met nothing happened so the Shadowhunters dismissed Camiel’s blessing as a spiritual rather than physical. The creation of the parabatai rune became known as the evidence of Camiel’s blessing and no other incarnation of bonded souls were accepted into Shadowhunter society.” 

“But if no other bond is accepted, how is there a record of this mark?” Clary asked. “And who’s Jonathan Shadowhunter?” 

“Jonathan Shadowhunter was the first Nephilim who drank the blood of the Angel Raziel from the Mortal Cup, he’s the reason we’re called Shadowhunters.” Izzy explained. 

“That’s convenient.” Clary said, “but the Mortal Cup? What’s that?” 

“I’ll explain everything to you later. I promise.” Izzy squeezed Clary’s hand. 

“Back to your first question,” Magnus moved closer and tapped the mark on the page. “The record is incomplete but it tells a story of two young Shadowhunters who, upon meeting, were surrounded by a strange golden light invisible to those around them. The mark appeared on their skin and they spoke with Jonathan about the mark and how it occurred. While exploring the mark, the young Shadowhunters described a sense they had for one another, they could guess what the other was feeling and when they fought together they moved more fluidly than those sharing parabatai bond. They were pulled to one another, and remained close for the rest of their lives.” 

“How close were they?” Clary asked. She couldn’t imagine sharing that deep of a bond with someone and not becoming an important aspect of their lives. She felt Izzy’s curiosity as well, and a hint of suspicion like Izzy already knew the answer. 

“Jonathan described them as lovers and wrote that after a time, the mark had turned from black to gold. From this point forward they considered themselves a married couple, although an official marriage ceremony was never recorded. Further exploration of the mark was stalled when one of the pair died in battle. Jonathan’s final remark is that the symbol left on the living shadowhunter faded a bit but retained the appearance of a recently acquired scar until they passed as well.” 

Magnus waited as Clary and Isabelle processed his words. The story was something he had discovered by accident while searching for any information on soul bondings he could find, but after seeing the mark drawn on the page and reading the account that had been taken from Jonathan Shadowhunter’s journal, he knew it was the only plausible explanation. Clary and Isabelle had somehow accessed the Blessing of Camiel. 

“So this means that we’re…” Clary trailed off, looking at Isabelle. She could feel the uncertainty stretching in the space between them and nearly pulled her hand away from where it was still clutched in Isabelle’s. Isabelle squeezed Clary’s hand when she tried to move so Clary squeezed back and didn’t try to pull away again. 

“Not exactly,” Magnus answered Clary’s unspoken question. “Right now I believe you are simply bonded, like parabatai, though admittedly more intense than that.” 

“Why have I never heard this story before?” Izzy asked lowly, looking from the book to Magnus, to Clary and back again. 

“I don’t know,” Magnus shrugged slightly. “My best guess is that after Jonathan passed, the leading Shadowhunters removed this passage from his journal and dismissed this tale as an earlier, flawed version of the parabatai. I don’t know why they would have done that, or how this passage ended up in this book.” 

“So what does this mean for us?” Clary asked but even she wasn’t sure if that question was directed at Izzy or Magnus. 

“I’ll let the two of you talk.” Magnus excused himself from the balcony and closed the door behind him to give the two young girls their privacy. He didn’t feel that his presence was needed anymore nor was he going to tell either of them how to react to such a blessing. That was for them to decide and no one else. 

Izzy sat silently for a time, staring at the mark drawn on the page before her, unconsciously tracing the same shape that resided on her own chest with her free hand. Clary watched her for a moment, trying to keep her feelings to herself as much as she could. Izzy didn’t need to feel Clary’s apprehension and worry on top of her own. 

“Izzy?” Clary asked after several minutes of silence had passed. Izzy looked over at her. 

“Sorry, I’m just surprised.” Izzy murmured with a half smile. “This is a lot to take in.” 

“It is.” Izzy could feel Clary’s agreement through the bond, but she didn’t need that connection to know that Clary had to be reeling. In the past few weeks, Clary had not only formed this strange bond with Isabelle but had also discovered that her mother had been lying to her for her entire life. Clary had been thrust into a world that she hadn’t even known existed. “I’m still not sure what it means.” 

“I’m not either,” Isabelle rose from her seat, letting go of Clary’s hand as she stepped away from the couch to lean against the balcony wall. Clary stayed still and re-focused her gaze on the still open book. She couldn’t read anything on the page, but still hoped to learn something from it. 

A soft silence blanketed the space, the only sound coming from the ever-busy New York streets several feet below them. Clary, having realized she could gain nothing from the words written on the page, closed the book and focused her gaze on Isabelle. Even with all the confusion swirling in the air between them, Izzy looked as grounded and sure of herself as always. Clary could see the strength in Izzy’s body, not just in her musculature but in the way she held herself. Izzy was the type of woman who knew she was strong, a soldier from head to toe. If Clary couldn’t feel the conflicting emotions rolling within Isabelle, Clary would have thought Izzy wasn’t reacting at all. Eventually, Izzy felt Clary’s eyes on her and turned her head enough to look at Clary. 

“You have questions,” it was a statement but Clary nodded anyway. “Ask away.” 

“I don’t even know where to start.” Clary laughed slightly. She had so many questions about this new world she was a part of, about Jonathan Shadowhunter and the Mortal Cup but mostly Clary wanted to know about Izzy. She wanted to know what Izzy’s family was like, what she did for fun, how she acted with her brothers. There was so much she wanted to know about Izzy, but there was so much they needed to talk about first. “Should we tell someone about this?” 

“You mean your mom?” Izzy waited for Clary’s confirming nod. “I don’t think we should. Not yet. Having a name for something doesn’t mean we understand it. I’m not sure your mom is too fond of me anyway so we probably shouldn’t push it by telling her that we’re…” 

“Married? Engaged?” Clary asked. “Do we even know what we are?” 

“Maybe we could start with friends?” Izzy moved back over to the couch and say beside Clary again. “That’s what parabatai is, a really deep friendship.” 

“But isn’t this supposed to be more intense than that?” Clary gestured in the space between them, drawing an invisible line from the mark on her chest to the one on Izzy’s. 

“It is,” Izzy nodded. “Parabatai can only share emotions in battle, even then they have to focus to share that energy. It’s not like this. Parabatai can only feel each other this way when one of them is in danger of dying.” 

“What about what Magnus said about the bond being incomplete? What does that mean?” 

“I have no idea,” that was a partial lie. Izzy had some idea of what that would mean for them, specifically in terms of the marriage part of this bond but she wasn’t sure Clary was ready to hear that and she was positive that she herself wasn’t ready to talk about it. “I guess we’ll just have to figure this out as we go along.” 

“What about your family?” Clary asked after a beat of comfortable silence. “I know you could feel how restless I was the past two weeks, and I could feel it from you too. What if that was because we weren’t around one another for too long? I doubt you can sneak away from the Institute every night.” 

While Izzy was sure she could sneak away from the Institute every night, it wouldn’t be practical for them. Not only would Izzy had missions spring up unexpectedly, her brothers would surely notice her absence every night and become even more suspicious than they already were. “You think we should tell them?” 

“I don’t know.” Clary shrugged. “I think I don’t know enough about any of this.” 

“Hey,” Izzy spoke softly, reaching out and resting her hand against Clary’s knee where she squeezed gently. She could feel Clary’s frustration and confusion and focused on feeling supportive and reassuring and sent those emotions towards Clary. “We’ll figure this out okay? Together. As for the Shadow World, I’ll teach you.” Clary nodded, covering Izzy’s hand with her own. “And then, once we both feel ready, I’ll bring you to the Institute.” 

“So, we keep this a secret until then?” Clary felt Izzy squeeze her knee and then flip her hand over and intertwined their fingers. 

“And the rest, we’ll figure it out as we go.” Izzy promised, lifting their joined hands. Clary smiled and followed Izzy’s lead as she stood up. They walked into Magnus’ loft together and found him sitting on his couch, nursing a sparkling martini. 

“And here comes the happy…” 

“Friends,” Clary filled in the blank. Magnus nodded, though his smile indicated that he was merely waiting for friends to turn to something more. 

“And we’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone else what you found about the bond.” Izzy looked pointedly at Magnus. 

“Translation, don’t tell Jocelyn and Luke.” Magnus offered them a lopsided smirk. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me and,” Magnus waved his hand in a casual manner, “if you ever need assistance having a secret rendezvous don’t hesitate to call.” Afterall, Magnus loved to watch young love unfold. 

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Isabelle rolled her eyes. “For now, I should get back to the Institute before my brothers come looking for me.

“Before you go,” Magnus said suddenly, “in the interest of keeping this a secret, might I suggest a glamour that can’t be undone using a stele? You wouldn’t want to accidentally reveal your mark.” 

“You want to cast a glamour spell on it?” Izzy asked slightly skeptically. 

“At least on Clary,” Magnus looked at her. “I can hide the mark from those who don’t already know about it so you can stop wasting your makeup.” 

“That would be nice,” Clary smiled slightly. “But I’ll still be able to see it?” 

“You, Izzy, your mother, Luke and I will see it. No one else will until you tell them about it.” Magnus watched Clary and Izzy share a look, a moment passed and Izzy nodded. Clary turned back to Magnus who took his cue and stood up. “Isabelle, if you could deactivate your glamour.” Izzy let go of Clary’s hand and did as requested before taking Clary’s hand again. “Perfect, hold still.” 

Magnus began chanting and Clary felt the increasingly familiar brush of magic against her skin. The light of Magnus’ magic faded and he sat back down. “And now your marks are hidden.” 

Clary and Isabelle looked at one another, the mark clearly visible to both of them. “We’ll take your word for it.” Izzy said and then turned to Clary. “I should go. I’ll see you soon?” Izzy smiled at Clary. 

“See you soon.” Clary answered, squeezing Isabelle’s hand once before letting go. Izzy waved at Magnus and then made her way out of the loft. Clary smiled after her. 

“Ah,” Magnus said too low for Clary to hear. “Young love.” 

Clary left a few moments later, opting to walk home rather than catch a cab since it was still fairly early in the evening. She used the time walking to figure out what she would say to her mother. She had agreed to telling Jocelyn what Magnus explained, but that had been more of a way to get Jocelyn out of the loft so Magnus could explain. She wouldn’t be happy with Clary refusing to tell her now. But, Clary thought, she and Izzy had decided together that it would be best if no one else knew the specifics of their bond. And she wasn’t going to betray that promise. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and sorry for the weird update time. I don't really have an excuse except college is hell and I'm Suffering.


	8. Chapter 8

“I’m still not sure if this is a good idea.” Jocelyn looked between Clary and Luke, both of whom were dressed in workout clothes. Clary rolled her eyes and motioned for Luke to try and speak some sense into her mother while Clary stepped to the side and began to work through the warm up stretches Luke had shown her the night before. Luke considered his options where Jocelyn was concerned before shrugging and turning away from her. 

“We’ve already discussed this.” Luke said. “You agreed to training without runes, too late to back out now.” 

“Even if you do, I’ll get Izzy to train me.” Clary spoke up, straightening her spine from the stretch she had just completed. 

“And Izzy would help her with runes, too.” Luke pointed out. Clary nodded in agreement. Luke’s words had the desired effect on Jocelyn. He knew that Jocelyn didn’t want Clary to have runes yet because if she wasn’t using her angelic abilities, she’d be easier to keep hidden. It was how they managed to stay under the radar for so long. Jocelyn only activated her runes in the most dire of times and immediately took Clary to Magnus afterwards to erase her memories of any events. Clary’s ignorance to what she was supposed to be able to see and do had been her best protection. 

“Fine, fine, we’ll train.” Jocelyn turned a motherly glare towards Clary. “But, you’ll still be keeping your grades up and working on your portfolio. If anything slips, training stops.” 

“Yes, Mom, I know.” Clary said. She did her best not to roll her eyes at her mother. Although Jocelyn had promised to answer any and all questions Clary had about the Shadow World, which she had done so far, she was still wary about Clary herself being an active part of the Shadow World. It had taken nearly three weeks for Clary and Luke to convince Jocelyn to let Clary train in combat. Jocelyn had insisted that since Clary now had a werewolf, Jocelyn herself who was a fully trained Shadowhunter (if a bit out practice) and Isabelle around to protect her, Clary didn’t need to train herself. That had, of course, infuriated Clary who didn’t want to be protected. The argument that followed didn’t resolve anything, but Clary made it clear that Jocelyn could not and would not stop her from learning more about the world she was supposed to be raised in. A week later, Jocelyn caved on the condition that Clary would only be learning hand to hand combat and she wouldn’t be using runes until she was 18. 

“Can we get started now? I don’t want to be all hot and sweaty when Izzy gets here.” Clary said, bouncing on her feet a bit to distract herself from the blush climbing her cheeks. 

“Izzy’s not going to be here for a few hours, we have plenty of time.” Luke chuckled but gestured for Clary to take her place across from him. “You want to train like a Shadowhunter, right?” 

“Yes,” Clary said with a short nod, looking at Luke curiously. 

“Then don’t get hit.” 

That was all the warning Clary had before Luke was swinging his fist at her head. She looked like a deer stuck in headlights for a moment before something in her shifted and she ducked low. Luke swung again and Clary used her left arm to block the strike. Then, Luke swept his leg out and knocked Clary off her feet, feeling as Luke’s grip shifted to hold her arm down. Moving on pure instinct, Clary twisted her leg over Luke’s and shifted her weight in a move that she was sure would throw him off of her. Luke easily broke her hold and flipped Clary onto her stomach, holding her there with a knee on the center of her back. Clary grunted as she tried to break free, to no avail. 

“Not bad,” Luke said as he released Clary. “But you’re not strong enough to pull off moves like that yet.” 

Clary rose to her feet and brushed her clothes off. “So what can I do?” 

“Get stronger.” Luke directed Clary to take a fighting stance and corrected her positioning as he continued speaking. “You move the way you do now because it’s in your blood. You react on instinct, but blood and instinct don’t make you physically strong. That part’s going to take time.” Luke stepped back once he was sure Clary’s stance was correct. “Let’s go again.” 

Jocelyn stood to the side of the space where Luke and Clary were sparring, arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face. Clary shouldn’t have been able to move like that. Not yet. Even as a Shadowhunter, Clary was much more in touch with her instincts than most when they started training. The way she moved, Jocelyn could tell it was Clary’s body reacting to what her instincts told her rather than what she thought she should do. She moved fast, too fast for someone that didn’t have any training, though she still lacked finesse and accuracy. Watching Clary struggle against Luke’s hold, fail, and then having Luke show her the proper way to break the hold before they began again, Jocelyn was sure it wouldn’t be long until Clary was fighting like she’d been training since she was born. 

“Okay, that’s enough defensive training for today,” Luke’s voice pulled Jocelyn from her thoughts and she turned to the two people she cared about most in the world, both of whom were sweaty and panting. “Jocelyn?” 

Jocelyn nodded slightly and stepped onto the soft mats she had insisted be put down for Clary’s training. Without stopping, Jocelyn grabbed Clary’s arm and pulled her over to the newly installed boxing bag for her more offensive based lesson. Luke was focused on making sure Clary could away from anyone might have gotten a hold of her, Jocelyn decided she should make sure Clary could attack as well as defend. On the wall next to the punching bag was a bucket of tape. 

“I’m going to show you how to wrap your hands so you don’t hurt yourself,” Jocelyn said, picking up one roll of tape and handing another to Clary. “I know you’ll be training even when I don’t want you too, so as long as you're safe and your grades stay up, I won’t complain.” 

Clary nodded, fully intending to spend more time than her allotted Saturday afternoons training, a feat that would be much easier now that she knew she wouldn’t be punished for doing so. Jocelyn went through the motions of wrapping her hands one at a time, showing Clary how to support her wrist and protect her knuckles at the same time. Clary watched carefully and followed along under Jocelyn’s watch. It took a few tries but eventually Jocelyn was satisfied with the way Clary’s hands were wrapped. 

Next, Jocelyn and Clary stood side-by-side, some distance away from the punching bag so Jocelyn could demonstrate the few simple combos they’d be starting with. Clary mirrored her mother’s movement and started to feel a rhythm for the combos Jocelyn showed her. That feeling increased when Jocelyn stepped to the side and instructed Clary to perform whatever move Jocelyn called out for her. The calls came slow at first, Jocelyn letting Clary feel each movement before she sped up. Clary could feel each punch rolling into the other as she moved, but was surprised at how tired she felt by the time they stopped, simply from punching the air. 

“More exhausting than you thought, isn’t it?” Jocelyn teased lightly and stepped up behind the punching bag. “Don’t worry you’ll get used to it.” 

“Sure,” Clary said and stepped to the other side of the bag. Jocelyn held the punching bag steady while Clary struck at it again and again, her rhythm slowly becoming more steady as she continued. After a time that felt like forever to Clary, her punches began to weaken and Clary dropped back into a more relaxed stance. She was sweaty and breathing hard, her clothes clinging to her skin. Even the loose curls on the back of her neck stuck there. 

“Had enough for one day?” Luke asked as he stepped forward with a water bottle for Clary who took it gratefully. 

“I think so.” Clary said after swallowing two huge gulps of water. “I’m going to be so sore, tomorrow aren’t I?” 

“Oh yeah,” Luke laughed, “but you’ll be fine after that.” Luke handed the other water bottle he carried to Jocelyn. “You did good today.” 

“It’s so weird,” Clary said as she began to unwrap her hands and roll the tape back up, “but I felt like I didn’t need to really think for most of this. Once we got started it was just instinct.” 

“A lot of this is, for you,” Luke said, “but you have to remember that just because your instincts tell you to do something, doesn’t mean you can. Like trying to throw me off of you earlier. Your instincts tell you to do that, but executing that move isn’t something you can do by nature.” 

“So don’t get cocky,” Jocelyn stepped in with a motherly tone. “You still have a lot to learn.” 

“Later,” Luke reminded her, “right now, you have a date to get ready for.” 

“It’s not a date.” Clary insisted but the blush that colored her face. “We’re just getting dinner.” 

“Together. Just the two of you. Alone.” Luke teased. “For the first time.” 

“No offense but hanging out with you guys every Saturday night isn’t as fun as it seems.” Clary shot back and both Luke and Jocelyn laughed. Clary and Izzy had learned that they could go for about a week without seeing one another before they started feeling restless. Magnus had said that it might be a physical manifestation of their bond, they needed to be around each other for the bond to grow so it pushed them to be together. Though it was never exactly a good time to leave the Institute, it would be less noticeable for Izzy to be gone most Saturday nights than any other day. She could always use extra patrols as a plausible, if somewhat flimsy, excuse. 

“Go shower,” Jocelyn gestured with one hand, “get ready for your date that isn’t a date.” Clary shot her mother a short glare before turning to head to her room and shower. 

“She’s a natural with this stuff.” Luke said once Clary was out of sight. 

“She is,” Jocelyn agreed. She finished unwrapping her hands and put the tape away and then started moving the training mats to the side so their living room looked like usual once again. Jocelyn had wanted to convert her art studio into their training room, but the living room had more space to move around, and was easier to put back together after each session. “More so than I was.” 

“So why are you so worried?” Luke asked as he moved to help Jocelyn with the rest of the mats. 

“You know why,” Jocelyn half turned to him. Her face was drawn with anxiety and thinly veiled fear. “The further she pushes into this world, the easier it will be for him to find her.” 

“At least if he does, she’ll have a fighting chance.” Luke’s words weren’t nearly as reassuring as they were meant to be, but Jocelyn knew he was right. Clary becoming a Shadowhunter seemed to be inevitable, and once the Clave found out about her, them, it wouldn’t be long before Valentine came looking as well. It was better for Clary to learn to fight and defend herself. 

That didn’t mean Jocelyn had to like it. 

~

By the time Izzy arrived, Clary had showered, fixed her hair, put on a small amount of lip gloss, and changed outfits three times before settling on what she had originally put on. All the while, Clary had to steadfastly remind herself that she should not be nervous because it was a date she was getting ready for. It was simply an outing, with a friend, to grab a bite to eat and get to know one another better. An outing with a friend. A friend that Clary was connecting to, a friend that could feel Clary’s emotions and who Clary felt empty if she hadn’t seen in a while. Not a friend that Clary had a crush on, not a friend that Clary thought about romantically or had drawn several sketches of since they last time they had seen one another in person. Not one of those friends. 

Maybe if Clary told herself that enough, she would actually believe it. 

The truth was that Clary was undoubtedly crushing on Izzy, and she wasn’t sure if that crush was true or not. It was hard not to doubt her feelings when she and Izzy had this connection lingering between them. Even though they decided to be friends and see how things played out, Clary couldn’t ignore that the only record of this happening before involved a couple, a married couple at that. She wasn’t sure if the bond simply amplified her feelings (she wouldn’t deny that she was attracted to Izzy even before they learned about the specifics of the bond) or if her feelings were the result of that bond. It created a confusing turmoil within Clary that she did her best to keep from Izzy from feeling as well. 

“Clary! Izzy’s here!” Her mother’s voice called from downstairs, pulling Clary from her thoughts. 

“Coming!” Clary called back and, after checking her appearance one last time and grabbing her small purse that carried her phone, wallet and stele, made her way down the stairs. She nearly tripped over her own feet when she caught sight of Izzy, dressed in a deep red top and dark jeans, matched with a set of black heels and a black leather jacket. There was a holster on her thigh, Clary could see the hilt of a weapon tucked there, and the serpent bracelet that always rested on her right wrist. She looked beautiful, and fierce. Something inside Clary relaxed at the sight of her. “Ready?” 

“Ready,” Izzy gave Clary a dazzling smile and held out her hand. Clary took it and they turned towards the door, pausing for a second the acknowledge Jocelyn’s reminder about Clary’s curfew. Once they were outside the loft, Clary began leading them to a nice diner nearby that sometimes went too when to work on sketches without Simon or her mother leaning over her shoulder. “Sorry about the weapons. I have to go on patrol after I drop you off back home.” 

“It’s fine,” Clary waved off Izzy’s apology and squeezed her hand. “I’m just glad I get to see you. The more we hang out, the more I miss you when you’re not around.” Clary did her best to ignore the blush that rose on her cheeks and tried to keep her embarrassment to herself. 

“You don’t have to be embarrassed Clary,” Izzy pulls them to a stop. “I missed you, too.” 

For a moment, they simply stand there, staring at one another on the nearly deserted streets of Brooklyn. Their hands are still clasped together, hanging in the space between their bodies. Even with her standing right there, Izzy feels like Clary is too far away. She wants to draw her in, bring her closer for no other reason than that Izzy likes having Clary close to her. A cool breeze drifts across them, and Clary shivers slightly. The season had already changed since they met at the end of August. It was nearing November then and winter was quickly approaching, bringing low temperatures and the chance of snow increasing everyday. 

“Let’s get inside before you freeze to death.” Izzy breaks the silence that had blanketed them and tugs Clary along in the direction they had been going before. 

“We can’t all have heating runes,” Clary says but continues walking anyway. Izzy glances sideways at her. 

“I still think it’s dumb that your mom won’t let you use runes. You’re a Shadowhunter.” 

“Am I? I mean, I don’t think I am.” 

“Do you want to be one?” Izzy holds open the door to the diner for Clary to walk through and then follows her towards a booth in the back. 

“Yes. At least, I think I do,” Clary pauses as the waitress comes over to take their drink orders and hands them a couple of menus. “I just don’t know anything about it yet, except that runes exist and so does some kind of bond called parabatai, and neither of those things really apply to me.” 

“Not yet they don’t. Clary, you’re just now learning about all of this. It’s okay that you don’t know everything about the Shadow world yet.” 

“I’ve known about this world for nearly three months now.” Clary plays with the straw in her drink once the waitress comes back and then rattles off her usual order. Izzy considers Clary’s choice in burgers for a second and then says she’ll have the same. Once the waitress leaves, Clary speaks again. “And I feel like I haven’t learned much of anything.” 

“You’ve learned about this,” Izzy taps the mark on her chest with one finger. 

“Yeah, but that doesn’t feel like Shadow world knowledge.” Clary shrugs her shoulders a bit. “This feels like us, like it’s a part of me that was always meant to be discovered.”  _ Like I was always going to find you _ , the words the Clary thinks but doesn’t say, or rather, the emotion behind them, seep into the bond with a deep sense of certainty. Izzy feels something else lingering around the edges of the bond, just as she had on occasion for the past few weeks. She knows Clary is keeping something she feels to herself, and she’s dying to know what it is, but she won’t ask. Clary isn’t the only one trying to keep her emotions in check. 

“Listen, this is a whole new world for you. It’s going to take more than a couple months to adjust. Especially since half of that time was trying to convince your mom to let you be a part of this world. You’ll study, and train, and eventually being a Shadowhunter will feel like the most natural thing in the world.” Izzy reached across the table and took Clary’s hand again, squeezing gently. 

“Promise?” 

“I promise,” Izzy smiled warmly but had to pull her hand away as the waitress delivered their food. “So, is your mom still trying to get you to tell her about the bond?” 

“Yes,” Clary laughed lightly as she picked up a couple of fries. “She’s not used to me keeping secrets from her, but she knows I won’t tell her anything. I think she hopes that since she agreed to let me train with Luke, I’ll cave and give her the details.” 

“Will you?” Izzy asked and then took a bite of her burger. 

“No, we agreed to keep this to ourselves for now. She’s not really a fan of the bond in the first place, something about it taking away my choice.” Clary shrugged and continued eating as Isabelle paused at the thought. 

“Do you think this took away your choice?” Isabelle asked softly, and for the first time Clary could sense the smallest bit of uncertainty emanating from the girl across from her. It wasn’t something Clary was used too, most of the time when they had hung out on Saturday evenings, Izzy was the picture of relaxed confidence. 

“Not really,” Clary put her burger down and wiped her hands on a napkin. “I think everything we’ve done so far has been about choice. We both chose to be at that club that night, we chose to investigate this instead of ignoring it, and we chose to be friends even after we learned what this is.” Clary looked up at Isabelle threw her lashes. “And if we decide to be more than friends at some point, that will be a choice too.” 

“I guess I hadn’t thought it about like that.” Izzy said softly, pushing her almost empty plate away. “But you’re right. We can’t choose circumstances but we can choose how to react to them.” 

“Given these circumstances,” Clary gestured vaguely between them to indicate them and their bond in general, “I’d say we’ve made some good choices so far.” 

Isabelle nodded her agreement. There was a slight lull in the conversation, saved by the waitress coming over to check on them and refill Clary’s glass of water. They finished eating, chatting about their days as bit in between bites. 

“Are your brothers still trying to figure out who your mystery man is?” Clary asked after she finished eating. Izzy nodded and rolled her eyes. 

“They’ll be so surprised to see my mystery man is actually a woman.” Izzy laughed. “Seriously, they keep casually trying to ask what I do every Saturday night, but Alec is anything but casual and Jace is overly casual. I’m sure they’ll be a ton of questions when I meet up with them for patrol.” 

“What do you tell them?” Clary asked curiously, propping her elbow on the table and leaning her head into her hand. 

“Usually just that I’m meeting up with a friend. They’ll draw their own conclusions from that.” Izzy shrugged slightly and Clary caught a faint wave on uncomfortableness coming from her. Clary’s brow furrowed. 

“Why are you uncomfortable?” Clary asked, tilting her head slightly. The sense of discomfort coming from Izzy shut off suddenly. 

“I’m not, I’m fine.” 

Clary raised one eyebrow, “You know, I can actually feel what you’re feeling, right?” Izzy’s expression turned sheepish for a moment before settling into a blank mask. Clary reached across the table and took Isabelle’s hand in her own. Her voice softened slightly when she spoke again. “Hey, you don’t have to hide from me, or tell me why you feel uncomfortable. It’s okay.” 

“I don’t mean to, hide from you, I mean. It’s kind of just second nature.” Isabelle turned her hand over so their palms touched but didn’t tangle their fingers together just yet. 

“What do you mean?” 

“It’s something we’re taught when we start using runes but before we go into the field. Emotions cloud judgement, which leads to mistakes. Mistakes that we can’t afford.” Izzy explains without looking at Clary, instead choosing to stare at their hands. Clary’s nails are painted a maroon color. It compliments the dark red on Izzy’s own. “I’m just used to shoving what I feel to the side to deal with later.” 

“Well, you don’t have to do that with me.” Clary slipped her fingers into the space between Isabelle’s so they were fully holding hands now. 

“I don’t really think I can avoid sharing my feelings with you,” Izzy joked softly and looked at Clary through her lashes. 

“You did just now. I don’t feel anything from you right now.” Clary pointed out, her expression thoughtful. Izzy hummed slightly. 

“Huh,” Izzy took a moment to focus on her emotions. She could feel that sense of uncomfortableness fading now, and a slow peace filling that space. Being with Clary like this, out in the open where Izzy didn’t feel like she had to constantly be on guard so she wouldn’t reveal their secret, it filled Izzy with a sense of belonging and comfort. The affection she felt for Clary had been growing by the day and now Izzy felt like it might overwhelm her. She took a deep breath and felt something in her release, like opening the curtains on a sunny morning. It almost felt like a pathway lighting up, a bridge that stretched across the space between her and Clary and connected them. 

“Izzy,” Clary said, sounding breathless and awed. “That’s how you feel about me?” 

Izzy nodded mutely, knowing she couldn’t deny it and not wanting to try. Clary deserved the truth, she’d already been lied to far too much already and Izzy didn’t want to be added to the list of people who had done so. She wasn’t afraid of what she felt for Clary, or ashamed of it. “It’s okay,” Izzy said, “You don’t have to say anything. I just couldn’t hold it in.” 

Izzy watched as a smile grew on Clary’s lips. She felt a rush over take her, as if she was suddenly dunked underwater. Warmth flooded her veins and she felt Clary’s emotions wash over her. The slightest bit of nerves covered by a flood of affection dangerously close to becoming something deeper. It was as overwhelming to Izzy as her own emotions had been for she opened the connection up again. They were standing on a precipice, waiting for the next move. 

“Wanna go for a walk?” Clary asked and Izzy nodded. Clary pulled enough cash out of her wallet to pay for their food and stood from the booth. Izzy added a bit for the tip and stood as well to follow Clary out the door. 

The night air was cool and made Clary shiver as she pulled her coat tighter around her. Izzy was unaffected by the cold wind thanks to a warming rune and moved closer to Clary to share some of her warmth. As they walked, Izzy slipped her arm around Clary’s waist to hold her close. Clary shivered again but she wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or from feeling Izzy’s warm breath move across the tip of her ear. A tension lingered in the minimal space between them that kept them from looking directly at one another as they walked. The silence stretched as they walked towards Central Park, Izzy made sure to lead Clary away from the entrance to the Seelie realm. Clary didn’t know enough about the Shadow World yet to be able to handle an encounter with the Fair Folk, especially with the high emotions Izzy could feel swirling within Clary. Seelie’s had a way of using a person’s emotions against them and Izzy wouldn’t subject Clary to that if she could avoid it. Izzy answered truthfully when Clary asked why they had walked halfway across the park instead of finding a spot near the entrance but any urge Clary had to investigate this new part of her new world faded when Izzy tenderly brushed a stray strand of red hair out of Clary’s eyes. 

Clary’s breath caught in her throat and she swallowed thickly. Izzy was looking at her so tenderly, the warmest of glows in her eyes that matched the growing sense of  _ something  _ between them. It wasn’t love, not quite yet, but it was the beginning of that. It was the edge of the cliff they were both standing next too and Clary prepared to make the leap. She tilted her head slightly, angling her lips towards Izzy’s but not closing the distance yet. Her hand rested against Izzy’s hip, the leather of Izzy’s jacket smooth against her palm. Izzy’s gaze flickered to Clary’s lips and then back to her eyes. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Clary closed the distance between their lips. The fireworks that Clary had expected were there and burst brighter than Clary had been expected. Izzy’s lips were soft and inviting, moving against Clary’s own in a rhythm that Clary easily matched.She was drowning in Izzy, her touch, her taste, the feel of her hands cupping Clary’s face, the way she sighed when they parted moments later, both of them breathless. Izzy’s smile was bright as she pulled Clary into a hug. 

“I guess we can officially call this a date?” Clary questioned with a laugh. Of course Luke had been right, Clary didn’t know why she had doubted that this was a date in the first place. 

“The first of many,” Izzy replied and pressed a kiss to Clary’s forehead. Clary smiled and pulled back enough from their embrace to kiss Izzy’s lips again. “Speaking of, if we want to have more of these I should probably get you home before your curfew.” 

Clary pulled her phone out and checked the time. They had just enough time to walk back to her loft. “Good idea.” 

Clary put her phone away and tucked herself against Isabelle as they began to leave the park and head towards her home. The tension that had been between them before had shifted from an uncomfortable sense of not knowing what was to come and given way to a sad understanding that they couldn’t spend more time together yet. Neither of them really wanted the date to end, but Clary had a curfew and Izzy had to patrol. Knowing that it would be at least a week until they saw one another again didn’t help. 

“Oh, wait, I want to show you something.” Clary said as they arrived at the loft after walking in a comfortable - if a little sad - silence. She took Izzy’s hand and lead her towards a wall around the back of the loft. 

“That’s a lovely wall, Clary.” Clary rolls her eyes at Izzy and pulls her over toward the wall. 

“It’s a secret passage. Simon and I found it years ago. Hop over it.” Clary rolls her eyes again as Izzy gives her a doubtful look and backs up a few steps. With a short running start, Clary manages to scale up the wall and slip over to the other side without incident, thought the move isn’t half as graceful was when Izzy does the same. Clary takes Izzy’s hand when she lands beside her. “Over the wall and over to the fire escape, and this,” Clary points at a set of slightly twisted stairs that cling to the wall, “leads straight to my room.” 

“Have a lot of midnight rondevous with Simon, did you?” Izzy teases lightly. She knows perfectly that Clary had never returned Simon’s obvious affections, and that Simon knew that Clary never would. Clary snorted at the joke and pulled Izzy over to the staircase. “You’re telling me you’ve used this path for years and never noticed the runes?” 

Clary looked where Izzy was pointing and forced herself to see through the veil that still clouded her vision sometimes. An array of runes appeared before her, burned into the bricks of her house. “I wasn’t exactly looking for them.” Clary shrugged. “Anyway, we should probably go in the front door tonight but I wanted to show you this. Just in case.” 

“Just in case I can’t wait until Saturday to see you?” Izzy teased and pulled Clary against her, gently backing her into the wall they were meant to jump over. 

“Something like that.” Clary smiled and wrapped her arms around Izzy’s shoulders as they kissed languidly for a moment. When they parted, Izzy kissed Clary’s nose and then gave her a boost over the wall before following herself. They walked to the front door together. 

“Text when you get home from patrol.” Clary said softly as they stood by the door. 

“You’ll probably be asleep.” Izzy reminded her. Clary shook her head. 

“Text me anyway, otherwise I’ll go into full-on worried girlfriend mode in the morning and neither of us need that.” 

“Okay.” Izzy agreed softly. “Girlfriend, huh?” 

Clary blushed but nodded her head. “It seems weird to say since I know we’re already kind of married but yeah. Girlfriend. I’d like for us to be girlfriends.” 

“I’d like that, too.” Izzy smiled warmly at Clary. The porch light above them clicked off and then back on twice. “I guess that’s my cue.” 

“Be careful, and text me.” 

“I will.” Izzy swooped down for one last kiss and pulled away slowly. “Good night Clary.” 

“Good night Iz.” 

Isabelle disappeared into the dark as Clary went inside. Jocelyn and Luke were both sitting on the couch and looked at Clary expectantly. Clary smiled at both of them. 

“Must have a had a good time.” Luke said with a coy looking smirk. Jocelyn smiled slightly and took a sip of her coffee. Clary looked puzzled. 

“What makes you say that?” Clary asked as she set her purse down and stripped out of her coat and boots. 

“You’re wearing two different shades of lipstick.” 

“Oh.” Jocelyn and Luke both laughed as Clary hastily wiped at her mouth, but she was smiling widely too. She didn’t elaborate on her date with Izzy as she bid her mother and father-figure a good night. She knew her mother would ask for the specifics of her evening when they had breakfast together in the morning so Clary resolved to deal with it then. So, Clary climbed the stairs to her bedroom and changed into her pajamas. 

She hadn’t meant to fall asleep but knew that she must have when the buzz of her phone on the bedside table jolted her awake. The sketchbook that had been laying on her chest fell to her lap as she sat up and reached for her phone. Just as promised, it was a text from Izzy saying that she had made it back to the Institute after her patrol. 

Clary fell back asleep before she could write out a response, she knew Izzy wouldn’t be expecting a text back until it wasn’t an ungodly hour, and she slept with a smile on her face, her dreams filled with dark eyes, golden light and the warmth of Izzy’s hand in hers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is 8 chapters a slow enough burn? Hope y'all enjoyed!


	9. Chapter 9

The days grew colder and the nights longer as November turned into December and then to January. Clary kept her promise to her mother and trained diligently almost every day, the only times she didn’t being when Simon pulled her away for one thing or another. Clary felt bad that she was suddenly keeping half of her life from her best friend, but Simon was a mundane. Jocelyn, Luke and Isabelle had all said that it would be better for Simon to be kept in the dark about the Shadow World, that he’d be safer that way. Simon knew Clary well enough to know that she was hiding something, but he accepted the answers Clary gave about stressing over her art school portfolio or some other ordinary thing whenever he asked about it. 

Jace and Alec weren’t so quick to let the issue pass when it came to Izzy. They knew that Izzy had been leaving the Institute every Saturday for months, always returning in the early hours of the morning, sometimes later if she’d been on the patrol schedule as well. There were times when Izzy looked different, not quite spaced out but not quite all with them either. She’d developed a habit of rubbing a spot on her chest, near the rune of angelic power she wore proudly, a habit that neither Alec nor Jace could remember her having before. They watched Izzy closely, waiting for her to either slip up and be forced to confess whatever she was hiding, or to simply confess anyway since they didn’t normally keep secrets from one another. 

They didn’t seem to be close to either of those things happening. Isabelle remained in top form when she trained with them, and when they went out on missions together. She still complained good naturedly about the paperwork after but filled her set out anyway, unlike Jace who nearly always managed to coerce Alec into doing both of their paperwork. The only time either of the boys could definitively say Isabelle acted different was on Saturday mornings, before she would sneak out. There were times when Isabelle was nearly vibrating with energy, supernatural even by their standards, until she left. When she came back to the Institute, she’d be as collected as normal, but something about her always seemed different. She seemed to glow sometimes, her eyes shining with a warm kind of light that neither of her brothers had noticed before. She was happy when she came home, but dejected at the same time. Sometimes it seemed that she couldn’t wait for the weekend to come so she could leave again. Several times, Alec or Jace had caught Izzy staring at the front door to the Institute like she was contemplating walking out right then and there. 

Alec and Jace had never been happy being kept in the dark and resolved to find out what their sister was hiding, but had little luck so far. They had tried to follow Izzy a few times when she left, but Izzy was admittedly better than both of her brothers when it came to sneaking out. She knew how to make sure she wasn’t followed. Alec figured that it was only a matter of time before Izzy caught them trying to follow her and tried in vain to get Jace to stop. Jace had always been too curious for his own good, always the one to act first and think later while Alec was the planner, the leader of their team. Izzy fit in nicely with her incredible weapons and forensic knowledge. There was a reason they were one of the best field teams of their generation. At least, they were when Izzy wasn’t acting oddly anxious. 

“Iz, you okay?” Alec asked softly from where he and Izzy were perched together on the roof of a building overlooking where their target was predicted to be hunting that night. Jace was on the ground searching for the last identified alias of the shape-shifting demon while the other two Lightwood siblings waited for his signal. 

“Fine.” Izzy answered just as quietly. She was buzzing with the kind of anxious energy she only had when she had gone to long without seeing Clary. She had to concentrate hard to keep herself focused on the mission and not on following the path she could see that she knew would lead her to wherever Clary was. Clary had decided to spend the early hours of the evening hanging out with Simon since Izzy wouldn’t be able to stop by until after she completed her mission. “Just the anticipation you know? It’s been a while since we’ve had a hunt like this.” 

“Look, Izzy,” Alec sighed. He knew Izzy was lying to him. “I know you’re hiding something, which is fine. We all have our secrets.” Alec and Izzy shared a meaningful look, Alec’s own secret coming to the forefront of his mind. Izzy had known for years how Alec felt about Jace but they hadn’t spoken about it since Jace and Alec’s parabatai ceremony. “But you can’t let it distract you. We have a job to do and if you’re not focused, you could get hurt.” 

“I know the risks, Alec,” Izzy replied testily. She knew Alec’s concern was coming from a place of brotherly protection and she appreciated that. She didn’t appreciate the insinuation that she couldn’t do her job right. “I’m fine.” 

“Okay,” Alex conceded. “Just, whatever it is your hiding, you can tell me. I hope you know that. Whatever’s going on, I’ll be okay with it.” 

“I know, big brother. We can talk about it later.” Izzy highly doubted that Alec would be okay with Izzy’s secret once he learned about it. Not only were there two Shadowhunters living in New York, right under the Clave’s nose, but Izzy was also dating one of those Shadowhunters, not to mention the apparent marriage via soul bond situation. Alec was the most by the books person Izzy knew, and every part of Izzy’s secret broke one rule or another. Once Alec found about Clary and her mother, and Izzy’s connection to them, he would not be happy. “For now, we have a job to do.” 

Just then, Jace gave the signal and the two Lightwood siblings leapt down from the roof to follow the third member of their team down a side alley. Izzy let her bracelet change into whip form and Alec readied his bow. Jace already had his seraph blade ready in his hand as he waited for the other two to catch up to him. 

“There’s two of them.” Jace said as Alec and Izzy approached on either side of him. 

“The report said there was only one.” Alec said as Izzy moved ahead of them, walking slowly and checking every shadowed corner as she went. 

“The report was wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time.” Alec rolled his eyes but followed his parabatai further down the alley. 

They walked in calm silence, weapons primed and ready to attack. Izzy, leading them, could hear the movement ahead and paused to listen for any indication that the demon was moving closer or further away. She motioned for her brothers to stop moving as her ears were met with silence. A beat passed where they waited for the demon to reveal itself. The demon didn’t disappoint. 

It lunged for Isabelle first and she cleanly dodged, slicing her whip through the air and catching the creature by the neck. It fell, gasping, and Jace moved to attack it. A second demon emerged from the same direction, moving quickly towards Isabelle. She released the first demon from her whip as she dodged the second demon’s attack. This one avoided her whip and came closer. Isabelle shoved it away with a strong kick. She moved quickly away from the wall that she had been backed into, pulling a seraph blade out with her left hand. 

“Izzy, look out!” Alec called and Izzy looked up in time to see a third demon launching from the fire escape. She dodged, but she was a hair too slow. The demon’s claw moved along the side of her neck and Izzy let out a short hiss. She heard the twang of Alec’s bow and ducked as the arrow collided with the third demon. The creature exploded in a flash of light and distracted the second one long enough for Izzy to wrap her whip around its neck and forcefully pull it into her blade. The second flash of light was followed by a third and Jace climbed to his feet, dusting himself off. 

“Three demons. Great.” Jace said, looking up and down the alley for any sign of another threat. Alec moved closer to Izzy to look at her bleeding neck. 

“I’m fine Alec,” Izzy said and pushed her older brother away. “Just a scratch.” 

“It looks pretty deep, Iz,” Alec moved closer again and moved Izzy’s hair out of the way so he could see the cut better. “You need to get checked for poison.” 

“Fine, let’s go.” Izzy knew she couldn’t iratze the wound until she’d been checked over by someone from the infirmary. The sooner that was done, the sooner Izzy could go see Clary. Alec and Jace chatted about the mission as they walked home, Jace trying unsucssefully to get Alec to do all the paperwork for them. Alec insisted that he take Izzy to the infirmary. Jace grudgingly agreed to handle the paperwork, but made Izzy promise that she would do it next time. 

They made it back to the Institute without further incident and Alec walked Izzy to the infirmary. Luckily, Izzy’s injury was clear of poison, but she was instructed to wait a few hours before applying the iratze and to rub a special slave on the cut to protect herself from any demonic infections. The infirmary worker said that she was lucky she had been cut by a claw rather than a tooth, but it might take a few iratzes to heal completely. Izzy thanked them and took the salve, quickly making her escape from the infirmary. Alec watched her go, knowing that Izzy wouldn’t be going to bed but she would be sneaking out again. He almost wanted to follow her, but Izzy had said they would talk about her secret later. He trusted her, so he let her go without protest and simply walked to the Ops Center to help Jace with the paperwork. 

~

Izzy decided to take the back entrance to Clary’s room, just in case Clary wasn’t home yet. Jocelyn had slowly grown more tolerant of Isabelle’s presence in their lives, especially once she and Clary started officially dating, but it was clear she didn’t fully trust Izzy yet. She had yet to tell Izzy what her real surname was, the one that had belonged to her Shadowhunter family, and Izzy wasn’t sure why Jocelyn was so tight lipped about her past. She didn’t press the issue though, she only had a few hours to spend with Clary every week and she didn’t want to waste those hours arguing with Clary’s mother. 

Izzy had pulled her hair into a ponytail to keep it from sticking to the salve on her neck, which was the first thing Clary saw when Izzy entered her room. Clary rose from her seat at her desk where she had been idly sketching while she waited for her girlfriend and quickly crossed the room to Isabelle. She took Isabelle’s face in her hands gently and turned her head so she could see the cut clearly. 

“I’m okay, Clary,” Isabelle said as she turned her head to look at Clary, wrapping her hands around Clary’s waist. 

“What happened?” Clary asked, letting her concern flow freely through their bond. Izzy met the concern with a steady pulse of reassurance. 

“There were more demons than we expected there to be, one of them got the jump on me. But I’m fine, I promise. I just have to wait for this salve to dry before I can heal it.” Izzy explained as she pulled Clary closer. 

“Why wait?” Clary asked curiously, her concern muted but still there. 

“Just to make sure no infections make it into my bloodstream. It’s just a precaution.” Isabelle ducked down to kiss Clary’s cheek. “If I’m still here when it dries, I’ll show you how to use the healing rune.” 

Clary’s eyes shone at that and Izzy felt a wave of gratitude. Although Clary had kept to her promise of not using runes on herself until she turned 18, she had taken any opportunity she could to study runes. She didn’t have a Grey book to study, but Clary could see several runes drawn over Izzy. Izzy was happy to explain the meaning and purpose of the runes she wore to Clary and had watched as Clary copied the shapes into her sketchbook. It was almost like Clary was slowly making her own Grey book. Izzy made a mental note to send Clary pictures of some runes that she didn’t use all the time but that were good to know. 

“Did you have fun with Simon?” Isabelle asked, pulling Clary over to the bed. She made herself comfortable against the pillows in the room that was becoming more familiar to her. Clary nodded as she took her place next to Isabelle, tangling their fingers together. 

“Yeah, I did, but I was kinda distracted for most of it. That pull to you was stronger than normal.” 

“It was for me, too.” Izzy described the path she could see during her hunt, the one that was just out of focus enough for Izzy to ignore but that she knew was there and would lead to Clary. “I wonder if the bond is growing.” 

“Magnus thought it would right? Maybe we completed another phase of it.” Clary slipped lower into the bed and cuddled into Isabelle’s side. “Has the Institute picked up on any more bursts of energy?” 

“Not the kind that we generate, no,” Izzy had gotten into the habit of checking the logs whenever she returned to the Institute. “Maybe we should talk to Magnus again.” 

“Tonight?” Clary asked with a yawn. Now that Izzy was with her, that anxious energy was dissipating, but it was different than normal. 

“No, I’m tired.” Izzy rested her head against Clary’s, wrapping her arms around her and holding her close. “We can talk to him next weekend.” Izzy had never felt so tired after a hunt. Usually, a hunt energized her, not quite as much as she felt being away from Clary for too long, but close to that. Definitely enough to keep her up much later than normal. This time, Izzy felt nearly drained. 

“I feel like we shouldn’t be this tired.” Clary mumbled softly. It was still fairly early, for them anyway, but Clary had to fight to keep her eyes open. Izzy hummed slightly in response and Clary felt Izzy’s side of the bond fall into the quiet, muted, calm of sleep. Clary followed her into the land of dreams a few moments later before she could even try to wake Isabelle up. 

_ When Clary opened her eyes, she found herself standing in a glorious great hall. The walls were carved of stone, an alcove placed at regular intervals that housed a glowing rock of some sort. Torches lined the walls as well, illuminating the strange markings on the walls. Clary squinted slightly and willed the mist that clouded her vision away so she could make out the runes carved onto the wall. Some runes she didn't recognize, something about them seemed ancient somehow. The way they had been drawn was different than any runes Clary had seen so far in her half year knowing about the Shadow World.  _

_ Clary was just about to turn around and examine the other side of the hall when she felt a presence behind her. A familiar warmth flooded her chest as Isabelle came into view beside her.  _

_ "Clary?" Izzy asked, her voice echoing in the empty hall. "Where are we?"  _

_ "I was hoping you would know." Clary replied as she reached for Izzy's hand. It was as their hands touched that Clary became aware of the faint golden outline that surrounded them. "Are we dreaming?"  _

_ "I don't know." The last thing Izzy remembered was feeling abnormally tired after reuniting with Clary. They had cuddled up together on Clary's bed and then, Izzy wasn't sure what had happened. "This place seems familiar."  _

_ "Have you been here before?" Clary moved so she and Izzy stood side by side, looking down the hall at the great wooden doors on the far end.  _

_ "I'm not sure." The stone carvings reminded Izzy of Idris, but she was sure that the Shadowhunter homeland didn't have any paths like the one she and Clary stood in.  _

_ "Could this have something to do with the bond?"  _

_ Before Izzy could answer, the wooden doors swung open and two people stepped through. They wore black tunics and trousers, scabbards dangling from their hips. Izzy could see the hilt of a blade styled in the fashion that the original Shadowhunters had used. Black runes covered their skin, some that Izzy had never seen used; that weren't used anymore in favor of updated versions. The pair paused as the door closed behind them and each pulled the hoods that had concealed their faces down.  _

_ “Could it be true?” The figure on the left said as their hood came down and revealed a head of light brown hair. Despite having never seen the woman before, Izzy had the feeling that she had heard her voice before.  _

_ “It must be.” The figure on the left shook out her hair, golden ringlets falling over her back. “A blessing from the Angel Camiel. Our souls have bonded together.”  _

_ Clary and Izzy looked at one another in surprise.  _

_ “Why are you afraid?” The brunette woman asked softly, taking the hand of her blonde partner.  _

_ “The Clave will never accept this, not if we are the ones bonded. They believe the blessing of Camiel is the parabatai bond. A marriage between two women? We’ll be rejected.”  _

_ “Jonathan wouldn’t do that to us,” the blonde tried to console her partner. “The Clave won’t argue with an Angel.”  _

_ “What if we didn’t tell the Clave?” The brunette woman said softly. Izzy and Clary moved closer to hear her faint voice. “Jonathan knows. He can help us study this bond and write what we find in his journals. We do not need to tell the Clave or the other Shadowhunters.”  _

_ “You want to hide our marriage?” The blonde sounded as if she was on the verge of tears. A palpable wave of emotion moved across the hall, radiating out from the two women as the brunette gently cupped her lover’s face. The force of the wave nearly knocked Clary over and she stumbled into Izzy’s arms. “Are you truly that ashamed of me?”  _

_ “Never!” The woman spoke with such emotion, Clary felt it reverberate around her. She leaned further into Izzy, feeling her arms tightened around her waist as Izzy’s awe and wonder at what they were seeing flowed through their bond. “I could never be ashamed of you. I love you, with or without this bond. But I would rather have you in secret than have you taken away from me by the Clave. We both know they would separate us if they learned of our relationship. Not every Shadowhunter is like Jonathan.”  _

_ “I know.” The couple leaned their foreheads together. “But you also know that we won’t be able to hide this forever. Someone is going to see the Mark eventually.” The brunette nodded and lifted her chin slightly to kiss the blonde’s forehead.  _

_ “I only hope that by then we will have a greater understanding of this bond and what it means.” A heavy moment passed and it was almost like the two women were communicating silently. “We won’t hide our love forever, I promise.”  _

_ The two women kissed then, and for the first time, Clary and Izzy could see the golden light that surrounded the couple. It was exactly as Jocelyn had described the last time it had surrounded Clary and Isabelle, a golden dome that was somewhere between opaque and transparent. The light continued to grow brighter and brighter, until Clary and Izzy were forced to turn away from the blinding brightness. Clary turned in Izzy’s arms and hid her face against Izzy’s neck, feeling Isbelle bury her own face in Clary’s hair. A warmth surrounded them as their eyes fell closed.  _

Clary and Isabelle woke up together, holding onto one another tightly as they laid over the top of the blankets on Clary’s bed. Clary pulled away slightly, reaching for her phone to check the time. She didn’t feel like they had been asleep that long and was surprised to discover that it was nearly five in the morning. Izzy had arrived at eleven and they’d fallen asleep just moments later. 

“That was odd.” Izzy’s voice was slightly groggy from sleep and she rubbed her eyes tiredly. She let out a low hiss when she twisted a neck and the motion pulled on her still unhealed cut. Clary turned to her at the sound. 

“We slept for five hours.” Clary’s hand gently turned Isabelle’s head to look at the cut that had partially scabbed over. “You should heal this.” 

“I can’t believe we fell asleep like that,” Izzy pulled her stele from its holster on her thigh and stretched her arm out to Clary. “You know how to draw the iratze rune, don’t you?” 

Clary nodded slowly and took the stele from Isabelle’s hand, lifting Izzy’s arm and turning it gently so she could see the iratze clearly. Isabelle covered Clary’s slightly shaking hand with her own and helped Clary draw the familiar shape onto her arm. It burned slightly, as all runes did, but the wound on her neck healed in a few short seconds. 

“Wow,” Clary traced her fingers across Isabelle’s skin where the cut had been. Now there wasn’t even a trace of blood, or even a scar left behind. Leaning forward slightly, Clary pressed a soft kiss in the same spot. A feeling of soft contentment flood the bond for a moment before a twinge of regret took its place. Clary looked at Izzy quizzically. 

“Sorry,” Izzy apologized as she ran her hand up and down Clary’s arm. “I’m just a little upset we spent all our time together asleep. I really didn’t mean to do that.” 

“It’s okay, Iz,” Clary leaned over Izzy to put her stele on the side table and then cuddled against her side again. “I think falling asleep was out of our control.” 

“I can’t believe we saw them.” Izzy ran her fingers through Clary’s hair, unaware of the motion. Clary smiled against her shoulder. “We have to tell Magnus about this.” 

“Okay,” Clary agreed. “But I don’t think we should wait until next weekend. Whatever that dream was, it felt important. We should go see him today.” 

“Clary, I have to get back to the Institute.” Izzy reminded her in a gentle tone, although Clary could feel how much she didn’t want to go. 

“I know, but you don’t have to go right away. We can sleep a little longer, have breakfast and then go see Magnus. You’ll be back at the Institute this afternoon.” 

Isabelle knew that she really should be getting back. Her brothers had been on her case lately, Alec’s confrontation with her before their earlier encounter with the demon proved that he knew she was hiding something. And, whatever Alec knew so did Jace. Most of the time anyway. Izzy had caught them trying to follow her from the Institute several times. She had managed to evade them each time so far but she wouldn’t always be able to do that. It was safer for them, for their secret, for Izzy to get back to her brothers and her duty as soon as possible. She knew that, honestly she did, but the temptation to stay with Clary for a little bit longer was too much to resist. Despite the weird dream and uncomfortable way her weapons holster pressed into her thigh, Izzy had slept so peacefully with Clary in her arms. 

“Okay, fine,” Isabelle said and sat up a bit, reaching for the buckles on her holster. “But if we’re going back to sleep, I’m taking this off. Sleeping while armed is so uncomfortable.” 

Clary chuckled and used the opportunity presented to her when Izzy stood up to remove her weapons to pull back the blankets that they had slept on top of before. Izzy stepped out of her boots and shrugged her jacket off as well. 

“Do you want something else to sleep in? Like a t-shirt or something?” Clary asked after Izzy had set her things to the side. Izzy looked down at her leather pants and the tight shirt she had worn beneath her jacket. 

“Yeah, actually. That would be great.” Izzy pulled her hair out of its ponytail as Clary walked over to her closet. After digging around for a second, Clary came back over to Izzy with a t-shirt and a pair of cloth shorts in her hand. 

“Here,” she handed them to Izzy. Izzy thanked her with a small kiss and then turned around and started stripping off her clothes. 

Izzy could feel Clary’s surprise at the motion and could imagine the blush that was rising on Clary’s cheeks as Izzy stripped down to her underwear. It was adorable really, how easy it was to fluster Clary. Izzy tried not to do it so often but when the opportunity was there, she wouldn’t turn it down. She always thought Clary was beautiful, but blushing and stuttering Clary was another level of adorable. And Izzy enjoyed knowing that Clary was looking at her when she got like that, that the growing sense of want and lust she could feel in their bond wasn’t just coming from her. They hadn’t really talked about sex yet, although it was becoming increasingly obvious that it was something they both wanted. The bond complicated things. They weren’t sure how much of what they felt was really them and not a product of being magically married by an Angel’s forgotten blessing. 

“Your mom’s going to kill me when she finds out I stayed here all night.” Izzy said when she finished changing into the clothes Clary had given her. She was surprised to find Clary already looking at her, the faintest hint of a blush on her cheeks and a shine in her eyes that made Izzy feel like Clary was staring into her soul. 

“Technically speaking, she can’t really argue with me spending the night with my wife.” Clary said. Izzy felt that same flutter in her stomach she always felt when Clary casually mentioned their marital status, no matter how mystical said status was. 

“Didn’t Magnus say it’s more like an engagement at this point?” Izzy climbed under the blankets with Clary. “That we wouldn’t be married until the mark turns gold? That would make sense.” 

“Why would that make sense?” Clary asked as she laid down, laying on her side as Izzy did the same beside her so they could still talk. “Aren’t all runes black?” 

“No, just the ones that are used most commonly. There are other runes that are in different colors for ceremonial things. Color has different meaning for Shadowhunters. Our gear is black and we wear white when we attend funerals. Gold is the color of marriage.” 

“Huh,” Clary hummed softly. She hadn’t learned as much about Shadowhunter culture yet. “Does that mean that the wedding rune is gold?” 

“It is when it’s first drawn, but it eventually fades to black once the ceremony is over.” Izzy closes her eyes for a moment and tries not to think about the fading wedding runes on the back of her parents' hands. She doesn’t think she’d seen them be completely black since before Max was born. “I think ours will stay gold once we’re married, isn’t that what Magnus’ book said?” 

“I don’t remember,” Clary felt her eyes fall closed and scooted closer to Isabelle, draping an arm across her waist. “We can ask him later.” 

Izzy hummed and pressed a kiss into Clary’s hair before letting sleep claim her. Clary did the same a moment later and hoped they wouldn’t have anymore weird dreams. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! They'll be a slight gap in updates for the next few weeks (I've got finals and will need at least two days to recover after that) but I should be back on track about the second weekend of December.


	10. Chapter 10

Clary woke up feeling warm and content, a reassuring weight draped over her waist and soft puffs of air hitting the back of her neck. She and Izzy had apparently shifted around in their sleep and were now laying on their sides. Izzy’s arm wrapped around Clary’s waist kept them close together. Her hand was warm against Clary’s stomach where Clary’s shirt had evidently ridden up in the night. Clary sighed contently and snuggled back to get even closer to Izzy. Izzy’s breathing was still deep and even against the back of Clary’s neck and Clary would have been happy to close her eyes again and spend a few more hours sleeping peacefully in her girlfriend’s arms. Unfortunately, that was unlikely to happen. As soon as Clary’s eyes were falling closed again, her bedroom door opened. 

“That explains why you’re not downstairs yet.” Jocelyn said as both Clary and Izzy sat up in bed at the noise. She was relieved to see that they were both dressed and equally unsurprised to see that Izzy had stayed all night. She’d been expecting that to happen for weeks now. “Simon’s here, Clary. Something about needing you to tag his new van for the band.” 

“I’ll be down there in a minute.” Clary said through a yawn, slumping back against Izzy once the door was closed again. 

“She seemed oddly okay with seeing us in bed together.” Izzy remarked, stretching lightly. Clary shrugged and turned her head to kiss Izzy’s neck before she pulled away and stood from the bed. 

“I think she’s starting to like you.” Clary said as she moved over to her closet. “About time if you ask me. I don’t know why she doesn’t trust you.” 

“She doesn’t know me,” Izzy stood as well, her spine making a satisfying popping sound as she twisted her torso before reaching for her phone. “She’s probably still scared I’ll turn you guys in to the Clave or something.” 

“You wouldn’t do that though,” Clary poked her head around her closet door to look at Izzy curiously. “Would you?” 

“No,” Izzy shook her head and locked her phone again, ignoring the messages from Alec and Jace asking if she was okay, “but it’s probably something she’s thinking about. Why else would she still be keeping secrets?” 

“What secret is she keeping?” Clary finished changing out her pajamas and walked back over to Izzy, pulling her hair up as she moved. 

“Her family name.” Izzy reached for the clothes she had worn the night before and started changing. “Her Shadowhunter family name I mean. Your family name. They’re pretty recognizable names so I’m sure she changed her name to Fray when she moved here.” 

“I guess I didn’t think about that,” Clary picked up Izzy’s shirt for her and handed it over. “Have you asked her about it?” 

“No, even if I did, I doubt she’d tell me. I thought it would be better to let it go for now and we can talk about it again once you’re eighteen.” Izzy left her weapon holster on the nightstand but grabbed her stele and slipped it into her back pocket. 

“You’re just trying to stay on her good side until then.” Clary laughed slightly as she wrapped her arms around Izzy’s waist. Izzy shrugged slightly. 

“Well, yes, but also she’s doing all of this to protect you from something. I’m not taking any risks until I know I can get you to safety. Once you’re eighteen, the Clave will have to recognize your heritage and give you the option to become a Shadowhunter. That’s what they do for shadowhunters with a mundane parent.” 

“I didn’t know that happened.” Clary leaned in and kissed Izzy quickly. Izzy stole another kiss before she replied. 

“It doesn’t happen often, hardly ever anymore actually, but it’s the law. The Clave will have no choice but to follow it.” Izzy slipped her arms around Clary’s waist. “We will need your Shadowhunter name then, but if not knowing it now keeps you safer then I’m all for it.” 

“You’re so protective,” Clary teased, her voice growing playful as she made a funny face at Izzy. Izzy chuckled and kissed Clary’s nose. 

“I just...really care about you.” Izzy opened her side of the bond and let Clary feel all the emotions that Izzy couldn’t voice yet. Clary smiled, sliding one hand up to cup the back of Izzy’s neck. 

“I care about you, too.” Clary whispered before pulling Izzy in by the back of the neck. Izzy happily let Clary take control of their kiss, opening her mouth when Clary’s tongue swiped against her bottom lip to ask for permission. Izzy let her hands slide along Clary’s back, one rising to tangle in the loose curls on the back of Clary’s neck and the other sinking low against Clary’s back to press closer to her. Izzy let out a soft groan when Clary nipped at her bottom lip and then Izzy took control of their kiss to swallow Clary’s giggle. 

“Yo, Fray, can we get-whoa!” A masculine voice said from the doorway, pulling Clary and Izzy apart. Izzy started to reach for her weapons until she realized that she hadn’t put them on yet. Clary’s hand on her arm stopped her from reaching towards the nightstand. 

“Simon,” Clary said exasperated and her face flushed a pretty pink. Izzy wanted to kiss her again. “Don’t you knock?” 

“I did,” Simon was grinning then and now that she had gotten a good look, Izzy recognized him from the night she and Clary had first met. 

“Oh,” Clary shrugged sheepishly, elbowing Izzy when she started laughing softly. “Sorry.” 

Simon waved off the apology with a wide smile and crossed his arms over his chest, “Y’know, I knew you were hiding something from me but I didn’t think it was this,” Simon said as he gestured at Izzy. 

“I’m sorry, Simon, I really wanted to tell you I just-” Clary cut herself off suddenly, knowing that she had no real excuse unless she told Simon about the hidden world she was now a part off. Simon continued on like she hadn’t even spoken. 

“With all the training and sparring and running you’ve been doing, I thought you had joined a fight club or something and didn’t tell me because you were, y’know, following the rules. First rule of fight club is don’t talk about fight club and all that, but I gotta say this is much better than that. Prettier, too,” 

“Simon, stop hitting on my wi-girlfriend,” Clary cleared her throat as Izzy looked at her with a soft smile. There was a pulse of something in their bond, that same emotion that they both felt but weren’t ready to say and Izzy squeezed Clary’s waist gently. 

“I’m not hitting on her,” Simon rolled his eyes having missed Clary’s almost slip. “After that little display, I doubt she’d be interested anyway.” 

“I don’t know, you’re kinda nerd-hot,” Izzy joked softly, earning another elbow from Clary. Simon laughed. 

“I think I’m gonna like you,” Simon pointed at Isabelle and stepped further into the room to offer his hand. “I’m Simon Lewis,” 

“Isabelle Lightwood, my friends call me Izzy,” She let go of Clary’s waist to shake Simon’s hand, wondering if Simon would notice the runes on her skin or the holstered weapon on Clary’s nightstand. The bespectacled boy noticed neither as he swept his best friend into a hug. 

“Thanks for telling me you’ve got a hot girlfriend now,” Simon teased, “once I get a hot date for myself we’re totally all going out together.” 

“Sure, Simon,” Clary nodded along, wrapping her arm around Isabelle’s waist again. There was a weird feeling bubbling in her chest, an apprension lingering in her bones that made Clary want to keep Isabelle physically close to her. Izzy could feel Clary’s concern leaking into the bond and wrapped her arms around her in silent support. “My mom said you wanted me to tag your van? New band name?” 

“Yes, you are now looking at the lead singer of the band Rock Star Dingoes,” Simon bowed dramatically as Clary laughed. Izzy seemed bemused. “I need you to draw a dingo on the van, but,” Simon held both his hands up and then pointed behind him, out the door, “first breakfast. Your mom made waffles.” 

“We’re right behind you,” Clary said and made a shooing motion with her hands. Simon shot her a thumbs up and then ducked out the door. 

“So that’s Simon,” Isabelle smiled at Clary, 

“Who’s apparently nerd-hot,” Clary rolled her eyes as Izzy laughed, “sorry about him.” 

“Don’t be, I’m glad I finally got to meet him,” Izzy squeezed Clary’s waist once and then let go of her to take her hand and pull her towards the door. 

“Hey,” Clary tugged on Izzy’s hand until she stopped, “I know we need to talk to Magnus about that dream but I’m sure your brothers are looking for you. If you need to get back to the Institute, it’s okay,” 

“I probably should get back,” Izzy said, thinking about all the messages she had left on her phone, unread. But, Izzy had always been more rebellious than her brothers and, quite frankly, she didn’t want to be away from Clary just then. “But my brothers will be fine without me until this afternoon, if something really urgent comes up, they’ll send me a fire message. Besides,” Izzy squeezed Clary’s hand, “we both know that neither of us wants me to leave right now.” 

“To be fair, I never really want you to leave,” Clary let herself be pulled closer to Izzy and pressed a kiss against her cheek once she was close enough. "I can't wait until we can spend every night together." 

"Me either," Izzy stole one more kiss before tugging on Clary's hand again and pulling her out the door. "Let's get breakfast before your mom and Simon come looking for us again." 

~

Breakfast with Jocelyn and Simon had been less awkward than Izzy had been expecting given the somewhat compromising positions they had found her and Clary in that morning. Jocelyn didn’t offer any explanation for Clary’s supposed secret girlfriend when Simon asked her about in a bad attempt to be covert. 

“I’ve known the whole time,” Jocelyn said as she slid Izzy a cup of coffee across the table with a kinder smile than Izzy had seen before. “I’m her mother, she can’t keep secrets from me.” 

There’s a flash of guilt that fades just as quickly as it came and Izzy reaches out under the table with her free hand to rest it against Clary’s thigh. She knows that hiding the real implications of this bond from Jocelyn, hiding how connected Izzy and Clary will one day be, hasn’t sat well with Clary since the night Magnus told them that they are, or rather will be, married. Clary glances over at Izzy as her guilt fades from the bond is replaced with the silent promise that they’ll tell Jocelyn the truth about their bond after they complete it. 

“I thought she couldn’t keep secrets from me either,” Simon reached for the syrup and then paused. “Wait, is this why you’ve been coming home early every Saturday night since forever?” 

“Not ‘forever’,” Clary rolled her eyes, “just the past few months.” 

“My family is super strict so we don’t get a lot of time to hang out together during the week,” Izzy explained lightly as she stole a strawberry off of Clary’s plate. “We decided on Saturday nights since it was easier for me to sneak out then than on a weeknight.” 

“Oh, a secret and forbidden love,” Simon wiggled his eyebrows mischievously. “Fray, you’re living a trashy romance novel.” 

“Romance yes, trashy no,” Clary put her fork down to wack Simon on the back of the head just hard enough for him to feel it. Simon ducked out of the way and shoved a bite of food into his mouth. 

“C’mon, Fray, you’ve got the secret meetings with your secret lover, who's’ incredibly attractive,” 

“What did I say about hitting on my - Izzy?” Clary caught herself before she slipped up and nearly said ‘wife’ again. 

“Your Izzy, huh?” Izzy teased softly. 

“Shut up,” Clary looked back to Simon. 

“The unknowing but entirely supportive best friend, and the mother who pretended not to know but has known the whole time. All you need is a long lost relative to show up out of the blue and it’ll be like every teen fantasy I’ve ever read.” Simon spoke through mouthfuls of food, which distracted Clary from the way her mother suddenly flinched when Simon mentioned a long lost relative but Izzy noticed and filed the reaction away with the rest of the things she would question Jocelyn about once Clary was eighteen and at the Institute with her. 

“We don’t need to see your food after it’s in your mouth, Simon,” Jocelyn chastised gently. Simon swallowed the large bite he had just taken. 

“Sorry, Ms. F,” he apologized and then pulled Clary into a conversation about the tag he wanted her to do on his van. Izzy listened with half an ear but her her thoughts had drifted back to the dream she and Clary had shared. 

She couldn’t help but wonder if she and Clary would start sharing more dreams now, or if it was a one-time thing. It’d be nice to share some dreams with Clary, Izzy was really getting tired of only seeing her girlfriend once a week and only for a few hours, but some of Izzy’s dreams about Clary were very much not PG and she wasn’t sure if Clary was ready for that. She knew that Clary desired her in the same way, but some of the emotions that came through the bond were different than the ones they were ready to express. It’s why Clary could feel that Izzy loved her, and Izzy could feel the same from Clary, but neither of them had said the words aloud yet. They were holding back, just a little bit, in case it became too much for either of them. 

“Maybe tomorrow, Izzy and I have plans later,” Clary was saying when Isabelle refocused on the conversation happening around her. Evidently, Simon had asked about the three of them hanging out that evening, without a parental unit around. 

“Plans?” Jocelyn asked. Clary and Izzy shared a look and then Clary continued. 

“We’re meeting up with a friend of Izzy’s. Simon, can I tag your van tomorrow?” Clary asked, purposefully not giving Jocelyn time to ask why she and Izzy needed to meet with Magnus. “We promised to meet our friend for lunch.” 

“Yeah, of course,” Simon nodded happily. “That’ll give me a chance to go get some more colors.” 

“Great,” Clary said and then pushed her empty plate away from her. “I’m gonna grab my phone and jacket. Izzy?” 

Izzy stood as well, patting Simon’s shoulder as she walked past, “Nice meeting you Simon,” 

“You too, Izzy. I’m sure we’ll see more of each other now that I know you exist.” 

Izzy laughed and followed Clary up to her room to grab her own jacket and weapons holster. Clary was mumbling about Simon and his stupid fantasy novels when Izzy caught up to her, but Izzy simply laughed and threw her arm around Clary’s shoulder. 

“At least he’s supportive,” Isabelle kissed Clary’s cheek. “That could have gone much worse. Just wait until you meet my brothers.” 

“As long as they don’t walk in on us making out, I think I’ll survive.” 

~

After a quick message to Magnus to let him know that they were coming to see him, and another, shorter message to Alec telling him that Izzy was fine and would be back later, Clary and Izzy made their way through the streets of Brooklyn together, their joined hands providing a much appreciated comfort and quelling the ever-present need to be physically touching one another. They walked in a comfortable silence for the most part, their bond ringing with the contentment they felt at being able to spend so much time together and the apprehension at what Magnus would say. 

“I was beginning to wonder if the two of you were ever going to show up,” Magnus said as he pulled the door open just as Izzy was raising her hand to knock. “You simply cannot say something like ‘we shared a dream about the bond’ and then take your own sweet time to get here.” 

“Sorry,” Clary said with a small laugh, “we might have walked slower than we needed to.” Izzy squeezed Clary’s hand and sent a pulse of reassurance through the bond. 

“Well, I assume by now the two of you know how this works. Let’s get started,” Magnus led them through the spacious loft to the room where he directed them to take off their shoes and sit on the pillows like normal. Instead of laying down, this time Magnus had them sit facing one another with their hands grasped between them. 

“Is there a reason we’re sitting like this?” Clary asked curiously as Magnus moved around them. Magnus nodded absently. “Are you going to tell us what it is?” 

“No,” Magnus responded and clapped his hands together. A curtain fell over the large window and the lights dimmed. “Now, close your eyes and concentrate on your bond. Try to remember your dream.” 

Clary and Izzy did as instructed as Magnus began to move his hands in the intricate patterns he crafted when using his magic. The familiar brush of power against her skin told Clary that Magnus’s spell had washed over him and she tried to keep her breathing even as she waited for the effects. She heard a whisper in her mind to project what she saw and focused on pushing the images that were rising to the forefront of her mind. There, they met with another set of images that Clary knew came from Izzy and together they replayed the dream they had the night before. 

The process was draining, Clary was trying to push through every little thing she remembered and Izzy did the same. As the dream got closer and closer to the end, the image became fuzzy and distorted. Clary could feel her shoulders slumping and her grip on Izzy’s hand loosening. Magnus ended the spell quickly when he noticed both of the girls quickly losing energy. The magic dissipates with a wave of his hand and Magnus watches as both of the girls settle into their own minds again. Izzy’s shoulders slump and she lets go of Clary’s hands as she leans forward, settling them on Clary’s knees instead. Clary, once her hands are free, slowly lays back with her eyes closed. 

“Sorry, ladies, I didn’t think it would take so much effort to pull the memory forward,” Magnus kneels down to check on them, helping Izzy and then Clary to their feet so they can relocate to the couch. Once they were settled, Clary leaned her head against Izzy’s shoulder and closed her eyes again. Izzy wrapped one arm around Clary’s shoulders and reached for her hand with the other, playing with their fingers. 

“It’s fine,” Clary shifted to get more comfortable against Izzy but opened her eyes so she wouldn’t fall asleep. “Did you see what you wanted to?” 

“And more,” Magnus confirmed as he pulled his favorite armchair closer to the couch and took a seat. “I have said since the beginning that your bond with continue to grow but we couldn’t say exactly how because there is no official record. Based on what we’ve seen since this bond formed and what the two of you saw in that dream, I’m fairly confident in saying that your bond is almost complete.” 

“What? How?” Izzy asked, surprised. “I thought that we had to..” Izzy trailed off and raised her eyebrows suggestively, feeling uncharacteristically embarrassed. 

“Almost complete,” Magnus said again. “Your mark is still black and will remain that way, as far as I can tell, until your relationship is consummated.” 

“So we completed another portion of the bond? Or that portion completed itself? We didn’t do anything or see any golden lights,” Clary said. Izzy looked down at her, surprised at the lack of embarrassment coming from Clary. Magnus looked almost just as surprised. “Why are you both looking at me like that?” 

“I thought you would have had more of a reaction to the whole ‘consummate our relationship thing,’” Izzy said as she leaned forward a bit to look at Clary’s face. 

“Oh,” Clary smiled slightly. “I, um, I kinda thought that part was obvious. I know we haven’t talked about it yet but…” 

“As much as I would love to hear that conversation,” Magnus said. “I believe me, I would, your sex life is not of great importance at this moment in time. Have you noticed any changes in your bond since you woke up?” 

“Not really,” Izzy shook her head. “Except the rune Clary used on me.” 

“A rune?” Magnus prompted. Clary lifted her head slightly to examine the place where the scratch had been on Izzy’s neck as Izzy explained what happened. 

“I was scratched by a demon last night, the healers at the Institute said it would take more than one iratze to heal, but Clary drew one on me right after we woke up and I healed right away. Quickly, too.” 

“An increase in power,” Magnus speculated. “Of course, we can’t be sure of that since Clary hasn’t used a rune before but I think it is safe to assume that the runes you draw on each other will have a greater effect.” 

“Which will probably increase even more after the bond is complete,” Clary said, settling back against Izzy’s shoulder once she was satisfied that the cut was indeed gone. Magnus watched them for a moment, studying the way they clung to one another. While they had never been shy about their affection for one another around Magnus, they had never been quite so clingy either. 

“Indeed,” Magnus stroked his chin thoughtfully. “What about when you pull away from each other? Do you feel anything different?” 

“Don’t know yet,” Clary felt Izzy’s fingers moving through her hair and cuddled closer to her. “We haven’t been apart since we woke up.” 

“Shockingly, I am unsurprised,” Magnus laughed slightly as Clary and Izzy looked at him curiously. “Do you realize that you haven’t let go of one another for longer than 3 seconds since you arrived?” 

The two girls seemed to realize how they were sitting and interacting all at once, Izzy with one hand still idly playing with Clary’s hair, the other tangled with Clary’s fingers and Clary with her head on Isabelle’s shoulder and sitting so close to her that she was nearly in Izzy’s lap. They both laughed slightly but neither made an effort to move. 

“We just want to be close to one another,” Izzy said. Magnus smiled warmly at them. 

“Perfectly normal for a young couple in love,” an almost visible pulse moved between the girls at the last word. Magnus saw the slight blush on Clary’s face and realized that though the two girls were most certainly in love with one another, they had yet to say that out loud. “I’m sorry to say, but I believe this new aspect of the bond will make it harder to hide.” 

“It’s pushing us to be closer to one another,” Izzy said softly, resting her head against Clary’s. 

“I wouldn’t phrase it exactly like that, but yes,” Magnus leaned forward slightly to make sure he had both girl’s full attention. “I want both of you to understand something about this bond and everything that it entails.” 

Magnus snapped his fingers and a slim, black journal appeared in his hands. “I’ve done a bit more research on the subject since we last spoke. It took some digging and a fair amount of cashed in favors, but I believe I have found all of the available information about your bond. All of it is written in this journal and as best as I can tell, all the information is second hand from Jonathan Shadowhunter.”

“You found one of his lost journals?” Izzy asked. “Those are supposed to be pure myth.” 

“So is the bond you share with Clary,” Magnus remarked. “All myths have a little truth in them and the truth of this is that Jonathan Shadowhunter’s journals were not lost, they were hidden, placed in the care of the people Jonathan trusted the most, Shadowhunter and Warlock alike. This particular journal,” Magnus held up the black book, “was kept by the woman who would eventually become the High Warlock of Greece before she went into hiding centuries ago.” 

“Somehow, I’m not surprised that you managed to get it,” Clary remarked with a slight smile. If she knew anything about Magnus, it was that he was determined to help anyone he could and would go far beyond what he was expected to do. 

“You flatter me,” Magnus laughed slightly. “My point is, all of your questions about your bond can be answered in this journal. I know both of you must have wondered how the bond affects your feelings and I hope that this book will reassure you that however you feel, it is genuine. The bond between you did not form to make you fall in love with one another, but because you had the capacity to share a great love.” 

Clary and Izzy looked at Magnus in surprise for a moment before Clary spoke. “Is there anything you don’t know?” 

“Plenty,” Magnus chuckled, “but I do know love when I see it and after all these centuries, I can recognize when that love is true,” Magnus paused and laughed ruefully for a moment. “At least for other people.”

“Thank you, Magnus,” Izzy looked like she was going to say something else but before she could, a flame appeared before her. Reacting on instinct, Izzy let go of Clary’s hand and caught the fire message as the flame disappeared. “I guess that’s my cue.” 

“Thanks for everything, Magnus,” Clary said as she and Izzy stood up together, their hands linking automatically. Magnus nodded his head and pressed the journal into Clary’s free hand. 

“Of course. I’ll walk you out,” Magnus led the couple to the door and wished them a good evening as they left. Clary and Izzy returned the sentiment and then made their way down to the street. 

Once on the sidewalk, Clary could feel Izzy’s hesitancy to leave. 

“Hey,” Clary pulled on Izzy’s hand until she turned to look at her. “What is it?” 

“Nothing,” Izzy denied and then smiled slightly when Clary made a face that said she didn’t believe that. “Am I that easy to read?” 

“I do have a small advantage,” Clary sent a small burst of amusement through their bond. “Something’s bothering you. Will you tell me what it is?” Izzy sighed and leaned her forehead against Clary’s. 

“I was just thinking about what Magnus said, about how the bond doesn’t affect how we feel about one another. It’s stupid to worry about but…” 

“But you couldn’t help but wonder anyway?” Clary said. “I felt the same way but I don’t think it matters as much as we think it does. I don’t love you because I can feel what you feel or because you showed me this whole new world. I love you because you’re smart and funny and gorgeous and I want to know everything about you. Bond or no bond.” 

Izzy smiled softly at Clary and let go of her hand to cup her face. “You love me.” 

Clary, suddenly realizing what she had said, ducked her head down even as she nodded. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” Izzy whispered and tilted Clary’s chin up until she could connect their lips. Clary wrapped her free arm around Izzy’s waist and kissed her back languidly. Izzy kissed Clary’s nose when she pulled back and then rested their foreheads against one another again. “I really don’t want to leave.” 

“We’ll be back together again soon,” Clary promised softly. “Go, before your brothers start tracking you.” 

“I love you,” Izzy said again, basking in the warmth that she could feel spreading between the two of them. 

“I love you, too,” Clary tilted her chin up and kissed Izzy again. “Go,” 

With one last kiss, Izzy let go of her girlfriend and started walking towards the Institute. Clary watched her go, smiling just a little sadly. 


	11. Chapter 11

Alec watched his sister from across the room as she trained with another young Shadowhunter. It had been a few weeks since Izzy disappeared for almost a full day and didn’t come back until Alec sent her a fire message. He had kept a close eye on her since then and what he saw was puzzling and concerning. At first he thought that maybe it was a trick of the light, or maybe he hadn’t gotten enough sleep the night before. They’d been having quite a few late nights recently, later than usual anyway, due to an increase in activity around the city. More demon sightings, a few conflicts between the werewolves and vampires and most worryingly, rumors of rogue Shadowhunters with the red Circle rune on their necks. None of the rumors had been proven yet, but there was an air of trepidation around the Institute. They had suffered so much during the last uprising, and had lost so many people. They couldn’t afford to do that again. 

Izzy though, while aware of the situation and rightfully skeptical, seemed to be walking on air sometimes. She glowed. Literally, Alec could see a faint golden light that surrounded his sister. It was barely there, just bright enough for Alec to see when he glanced her way or looked at her out of the corner of his eye. When he looked directly at her, Alec had to actively search for the light to see it. Now while he watched Izzy train with a few younger warriors, Alec could see the golden light better than ever before. If only he could figure out what it meant. 

Izzy sneaking out was nothing new, but her excursions had seemed much more random before. He knows she’s not meeting up with her Seelie friend, Meliorn, or any other Downworlder. She had been sneaking out every week for months and if she had been visiting one of the werewolves or a vampire, the Institute would have heard of it by now. But she was meeting someone, someone she obviously cared about. Which was fine, of course. Alec wanted his baby sister to find someone she loved and though he hadn’t said anything, he hoped it was another Shadowhunter. They are old enough now, Jace, Alec, and Izzy, for their parents to being trying to set up a good marriage for them. Alec wouldn’t be able to marry for love, not without a war being fought within the Shadow World, but he wanted that for Jace and Izzy. 

“Am I going crazy or is Izzy glowing?” Jace’s voice pulled Alec from his thoughts and he turned his head slightly to see his parabatai studying their sister closely. 

“I see it too,” Alec said after a moment. Izzy was facing off against three young Shadowhunters, fighting them off fairly easily. “It started a couple weeks ago.” 

“Do we know why?” Jace asked. Alec shook his head. “Does she know why?” 

“I’m not sure,” Alec crossed his arms over his chest. The glow around Izzy faded for a moment and Izzy lifted one hand to her chest, touching the space just beside her rune of Angelic Power. The light pulsed and then returned even brighter than before. 

“I guess that answers that,” Jace had obviously seen the motion too. From where they stood, it looked like Izzy was not only aware of the glow, but able to control it. “She’s up to something.” 

“Don’t jump to conclusions, Jace,” Alec warned. Jace scoffed. 

“C’mon man, she’s been distracted for months, disappearing every week,” Jace mirrored Alec’s position with his arms across his chest. “She’s hiding something from us and we need to find out what. No secrets, remember?” 

Alec nodded absently. Of course he remembered the pact they had made as children, right before they received their first mission. To be the best, they needed to trust one another completely. No secrets between any of them. Whatever happened, they would get through it as a team, and none of them would be punished by the other two for making a mistake or doing the wrong thing. Alec remembers this promise and he knows that he can’t be mad at Izzy for breaking it now. Alec had been breaking the promise everyday since they made it. Everyday that he didn’t confess his feelings for Jace, everyday that he made Izzy keep his secret was a day he broke their promise. 

“She’ll come to us when she’s ready,” Alec said in that tone that told Jace to drop it. Jace sighed but nodded his head, signaling his agreement. Alec clapped his parabatai on the shoulder and then they moved to another side of the training room and began a sparring match of their own. 

Izzy breathed a sigh of relief when she felt her brothers finally look away from her. They’d been weirdly attentive the past few weeks. Alec was constantly looking at Izzy with a puzzled frown on his lips, like he was staring at something that he couldn’t understand. For a little while, Izzy wondered if Magnus’ glamour had failed her bond mark was visible now, but Alec didn’t seem to notice it. Clary assured her that the glamour was still active on her side, Simon couldn’t see the mark on her skin and neither could Maureen, Simon’s bandmate. That only made Izzy wonder her brother could possibly see around her that was making him look at her like that. 

Shaking off her thoughts, Izzy ended the sparring match between her and the three younger Shadowhunters and congratulated them on their combat skills. They had put up a good fight and there were a few times that Izzy thought she would lose the match. Izzy wiped her hand across her sweaty brow and moved to the side of the training room. Out of the corner of her eye, Izzy could see the now almost always present line that lead in the direction of Clary. The line had appeared in her vision almost the second Izzy had left Clary outside of Magnus’ loft and had remained ever since. Truthfully, Izzy thought she deserved some kind of award for her self control everytime she didn’t drop everything to follow the path to the girl who held her heart. 

Staying away from one another was getting harder by the day. In the ten months that they had known each other, Izzy had never felt such a desire to be around Clary. It was more than simply missing Clary when they were apart and wanting to spend time with her. It was a deep longing, as if her soul was physically crying out for its other half. Of course, it didn’t help that Izzy could feel the exact same thing coming from Clary. The need to be with one another, to  _ love  _ one another grew everyday. Izzy couldn’t stand it. She didn’t care that it was the middle of the week, or that her brothers were definitely going to follow her if she left. She needed to see Clary. 

Checking that her brothers were occupied on the other side of the room, Izzy silently made her way out of the training room and down the hall to her bedroom. She needed to move quickly if she wanted to keep her brothers from noticing her absence too soon. She needed to shower and change clothes and then make her way across Brooklyn. If she moved fast enough, she could have her anti-tracking rune activated before her brothers even noticed she had left the training room. 

She changed and dressed quickly, pausing briefly to make sure her hair was mostly dry before making her way to one of the seldom used backdoors of the Institute. Glancing around, Izzy stepped out through the door without seeing anyone following her. Then she stopped short as the door closed behind her. Alec hadn’t followed her, he had waited for her. 

“Going somewhere?” Alec raised one eyebrow at his sister. Izzy fought the urge to growl in frustration. 

“Book club,” Izzy answered. Alec smirked slightly. 

“Nice try,” Alec wasn’t going to let Izzy out of this without a good explanation. Sneaking off for a hookup wasn’t good enough. “Where are you really going?” 

“I am meeting up with someone,” Izzy reflexively rubbed the mark hidden on her chest. Alec’s eyes followed her hand for a moment and then he looked her in the eye again. 

“Does this someone have anything to do with that?” He gestured to her hand, still on her chest. 

“Yes,” Izzy didn’t have the energy or desire to make up some excuse. She needed to get to Clary as soon as possible. The pull was almost becoming painful. “I don’t have time to explain, Alec. I need you to trust me.” 

“I do trust you,” Alec softened softly. “I just don’t know why you don’t seem to trust me anymore. You know you can tell me anything.” 

“I do trust you Alec, and I will tell you what this is about, but I can’t right now,” Izzy closed her eyes as she felt her frustration rise. Now wasn’t the time for this, not to mention that Izzy had no idea why she couldn’t get herself under control. She never let her emotions get the better of her before. A passive note of concern came from Clary, but it was undercut by something else. Clary was just as desperate to get to Isabelle as Isabelle was to get to Clary. A pressure like someone hitting her chest began to build. “Please, Alec. I’ll tell you everything, tomorrow even. But right now I have to go.” 

Alec was about to protest or at least demand to go with her but he was stopped by a visible wave of power that rippled out of Izzy. Izzy gasped like she was in pain and the glow around her intensified. Alec, having no idea what was happening, could only nod mutely. Izzy didn’t even look back at her brother as she took off into the fading sunlight. 

As he watched her go, Alec had a vague impression that he had just witnessed something extraordinary. He hoped he felt the same way in the morning when Izzy gave him his promised explanation. 

~

Izzy ran the whole way to Clary, following the golden light that connected them without blinking. She didn’t even bother with the secret passage to Clary’s room, instead bursting through the unlocked door and calling Clary’s name. 

“Isabelle,” Clary called in return and nearly flew down the stairs in her hast to fling herself into Izzy’s arms. Izzy held Clary against her tightly, chest heaving from both her extended run to get to her and the relief she felt having Clary in her arms again. “What is happening to us?” 

“It’s your bond,” Jocelyn stood in the doorway from the entrance to the living room, holding the black journal Magnus had gifted Izzy and Clary. “You’re ready to complete it. The bond can sense that. It wants to be completed.” 

“Where did you find that?” Clary asked her mother but she didn’t move from Izzy’s arms. It felt like it had been weeks since she’d last seen her, though she knew it was only a few days ago. 

“On your bed,” Jocelyn looked down at the book. “I didn’t mean to pry, I just wanted to make sure that completing the bond wouldn’t hurt either of you. And maybe I needed to know for sure what would happen,” Jocelyn chuckled slightly. “It’s not everyday your daughter gets married.” 

“You know?” Izzy asked, surprised. She could feel Clary’s surprise as well as they both looked at Jocelyn. 

“I do. Magnus mentioned it to me that first night,” Jocelyn confirmed and held the journal out to the girls. “I don’t exactly like how this came to be, but I am happy for you both. I know you love each other, not just because of the bond.” 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Mom,” Clary reached with one hand to take the journal from her mother, her other arm remaining around Izzy’s waist. They shifted slightly so their sides were pressed together but they could both look down at the journal. It was open to an entry they had both read before, the description of the first couple who shared this bond and what happened the night their union was sealed. 

“We can talk about all of this later,” Jocelyn gestured at the journal. “From what that says, you two are probably about to burst. I’ll leave you alone for tonight only.” 

“Mom,” Clary took a half step forward, letting Izzy take the journal as she moved to hug her mother. “Thank you.” 

“I love you, Clary,” Jocelyn kissed her daughter’s hair and hugged her tight. When she came home in the morning, Clary would be married, by a supernatural bond sure but that didn’t minimize the legitemeness. There was no point in fighting it, Jocelyn had been slowly getting used to the idea for the last ten months. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t need a stiff drink when she got to Luke’s place. 

“I love you, too, Mom,” Clary squeezed her mother around the shoulders and then stepped back. Jocelyn moved over to Izzy and pulled her into a hug as well. 

“Take care of her,” Jocelyn whispered in Izzy’s ear. 

“Always,” Izzy promised with enough emotion to tell Jocelyn how real all of this was to her. Izzy was young, but Shadowhunter are rarely true children. They were serious from the day they were born, sure of themselves and confident. Izzy had never been sure of anything in her life than her feelings for Clary and that was enough for Jocelyn. She only ever wanted someone to love her daughter with their whole heart and Izzy did just that and more. Her only regret is that they are so young, but that was out of her control. She’ll make her peace with it. Eventually. 

“Welcome to the family,” Jocelyn released Izzy and collected her own purse and jacket. Clary and Izzy gravitated towards one another like magnets now that they were both done hugging Jocelyn goodbye. Jocelyn made her way out of the door and pulled it closed behind her, fighting tears the whole way. Her baby girl wasn’t a baby anymore, and the more she pulled into the shadows, the more danger she would be in. Two months was all Jocelyn had left, and the life she had built with her daughter would shift and change. She could only hope that everything she had done since Clary discovered the Shadow World would payoff, and the Izzy would keep her promise. 

In the absence of Jocelyn, Izzy and Clary had made their way to Clary’s bedroom and dropped the black journal on Clary’s desk before wrapping the arms around one another again. 

“By the Angel I missed you,” Izzy whispered, kissing Clary’s head. She held Clary by the waist, her fingers already playing with the hem of Clary’s shirt. Clary’s hands were already against her skin, the top Izzy had thrown on left her abdomen mostly exposed and Clary hadn’t waisted anytime in reaching for Izzy’s hips. “I love you.” 

“I love you,” Clary moved impossibly closer to whisper the words against Izzy’s lips before kissing her fully. 

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Izzy asked, breathless, when Clary pulled their lips apart. “We can wait.” 

“I don’t want to wait,” Clary promised and her desire flooded their bond. Not just her desire for Izzy, but for their life together. Her desire to be Izzy’s wife. “Remember what we said about choice?” 

Izzy nodded slightly, leaning her forehead against Clary’s. “Our first date.” 

“We chose to accept the bond, we chose to let it grow, and now we can choose to complete it,” Clary lifted one hand from Izzy’s abdomen to cup the back of her neck. “I choose you, Isabelle. I choose us.” 

“I choose you, Clary,” Isabelle closed the distance between their lips and wrapped her arms more firmly around Clary. They pressed close together but Izzy still felt like there was too much distance between them. 

She lifted Clary up easily, changing the angle of their kiss as Clary wrapped her legs around Izzy’s waist. Izzy almost laughed at the surge of lust that surged through Clary at the motion, but her mouth was busy and Izzy wasn’t willing to let go of Clary’s lips just yet. As it was, she almost whimpered when Clary moved her hands away from Isabelle’s skin until she realized that she was doing it so she could push Izzy’s jacket off. The leather hit the floor, followed soon after by Clary’s t-shirt and then Izzy was walking them to the bed. It was a miracle she didn’t trip or drop Clary as distracted as she was by the feeling of Clary’s lips against her neck. 

Clary’s back met her bed and she pulled her mouth away from Izzy’s skin to look at her. Izzy’s eyes were dark with lust as she hovered over Clary, eyeing her hungrily. Clary shivered in delight as Izzy’s fingers trailed across her skin. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Isabelle whispered reverently, ducking down to kiss Clary’s collarbone. Clary opened her mouth to return the compliment but Izzy was in motion again, rocking her hips against Clary’s in the most delicious way that it pulled a gasp from Clary and the words she wanted to say died on her lips. Isabelle smirked against Clary’s skin and trailed kisses down to Clary’s navel. Izzy’s hands found the button of Clary’s jeans and she looked up at her, silently asking if Clary was sure. Clary nodded her head and lifted her hips to help Izzy shimmy her jeans down. Clary spared half a thought to wonder if she should have worn fancier underwear but then Izzy’s fingers were tracing the insides of her thighs and Clary could only think that she wanted Izzy closer. 

Izzy kissed her way back up Clary’s body until their lips connected again and together they scooted further along the bed. Clary only noticed that Izzy had also removed her pants until she felt her bare thigh sliding between Clary’s legs. Clary felt like she was going to combust, they had never had so much skin touching at once and Clary’s senses were filled with  _ Izzy, Izzy, Izzy. _

Clary ran her hands along Izzy’s back until she met the material of her top and then she tugged on it. Izzy pulled away just long enough to slip the material over her head before she was kissing Clary’s neck again. Clary isn’t sure how she managed to unhook Izzy’s bra but the feat was accomplished anyway with Clary’s own bra following shortly after. They both moaned as their breasts pressed together. Clary felt her hips rocking her core against Izzy’s thigh but it wasn’t enough. 

“Izzy,” Clary said in a breathless moan as Izzy trailed kisses down the valley between her breasts and then over to her nipple. Warm lips wrapped around her and sucked and Clary moaned Izzy’s name again. She needed more, she needed to touch Izzy. When Izzy moved up again to kiss Clary’s lips, Clary hooked her leg over Izzy’s hips and flipped them. Izzy’s gasp was swallowed by Clary’s mouth as they pressed together again. The sounds Izzy made as Clary began kissing her way down her body shot straight to Clary’s center. 

Izzy felt like she was on fire from feeling Clary like this. It was nothing like she had experienced before. Everything she felt was amplified in a way that had nothing to do with the bond and everything to do with the fact that it was Clary who was touching her, Clary who was kissing her. 

“Clary,” Izzy said her name like a prayer, like it was something sacred. Clary pressed against her harder, tracing her hand around the line of Izzy’s panties. Izzy though she was going to combust. “Please, Clary.” 

As eager as she was to please, Clary hesisted for a moment. She had never done this before and she was suddenly worried that she would do it wrong. What if Izzy didn’t like it? What if Clary was awful? 

“Clary,” Izzy called softly, feeling Clary’s hesitance through the cloud of lust in their bond. “Baby, look at me.” Clary met Izzy’s gaze, taking in her dark eyes and flushed cheeks. Izzy looked radiant. “I want you, I need you. I love you.” 

“What if I do it wrong?” Clary asked softly. Izzy chuckled slightly and reached for her, pulling Clary’s chin up until she could press a slow, sensual kiss against her lips. 

“Then we’ll keep practicing until we get it right,” Izzy promised with another kiss. “Don’t worry and don’t rush,” Izzy whispered against Clary’s lips, and then swiftly flipped them over again. Clary giggled slightly as Izzy flipped her hair over her shoulder. “We have all the time in the world.” 

“I love you,” Clary cupped the back of Izzy’s head and pulled her in for another kiss. 

“I love you,” Izzy returned with a wicked grin, “and I’m about to show you just how much.” 

Clary felt the lust that was still coursing through Izzy rise up again as Izzy settled her weight over Clary. It felt like Izzy’s hands were everywhere, in Clary’s hair, dancing across her stomach, caressing her thighs and hips. Izzy’s lips travelled across Clary’s neck and she sucked a dark love bite in that spot behind Clary’s ear that drove her wild. Clary slid her hands across every part of Izzy she could reach, letting her worries and doubts fade away with every kiss. 

Once the final barrier between them was gone and Izzy began to explore Clary’s center with her fingers, both of them were ready to combust. Izzy grinded her own wetness against Clary’s thigh as her fingers found Clary’s clit. Clary moaned, tangling one hand in Izzy’s hair with the other holding Izzy’s hips. By the time Izzy slowly eased one finger into Clary, Clary’s hand had moved to touch Izzy in the same way. 

“Iz, fuck,” Clary moaned as Izzy eased a second finger in with the first. Izzy shifted her hips slightly and the movement aided Clary in letting her hand slip lower. Her fingertips met izzy’s wetness and knowing that she was the reason Izzy was so wet was almost enough to do clary in. 

“Clary,” Izzy whimpered into her ear as Clary’s fingers teased her folds. “Clary, please. I need you.” 

“I’m so close, baby,” Clary slipped two fingers into Izzy’s entrance and moaned as she felt Izzy for the first time. “Fuck, Iz. I love you so much.” 

“Clary,” Izzy said her name again as she increased the speed of her motions. Their hips rocked together, Ixxy could feel Clary’s hot breath against her lips as she moved in for a kiss. Clary’s fingers began to move more confidently against Izzy as she felt Izzy’s pleasure through their bond. 

“Isabelle, fuck, I’m-” Clary cut herself off with a moan as the pressure within her built. 

“Me too,” Isabelle kissed her fiercely and used her thumb to brush against Clary’s clit. “Together.” 

Clary nodded dumbly, rocking into Isabelle with blind passion. She could feel the tension in her limbs building, could feel the way Izzy was tightening around her fingers. They moved in tandem, grinding against one another and moaning their love aloud. They reached their climax at the same time and as the pleasure washed over them, they felt the connection between them solidify. Suddenly they could feel everything, when Izzy blinked she swears she saw herself through Clary’s eyes for a moment. If they could think of anything other than the pleasant hum running through them, Clary thought they might have been able to read each other’s mind. 

The euphoric high seemed to last an eternity and as wrapped up as they were in their bliss, neither Clary nor Izzy noticed the golden dome around them, or the ripple of power that had burst from them the moment the bond completed, a ripple that every Downworlder-Shadowhunters included- in the city could feel. They simply collapsed back against the pillows together, pressed close over the blankets and basking in the afterglow. 

“I can’t believe we waited ten months to do that,” Clary said after a few minutes of silence, once she felt like she could feel all her extremities again. Izzy laughed and turned her head to kiss Clary’s nose and then her lips. 

“Worth it,” Izzy mumbled. “Are you okay?” 

Clary nodded, folding herself against Izzy’s side. She threw one arm across Izzy’s waist as their legs tangled together and turned her head to kiss Izzy’s neck. “I’m perfect.” 

Izzy hummed softly in response, trailing her fingers through Clary’s hair and the down her shoulder until she could run her nails lightly up and down Clary’s arm. Clary snuggled closer, feeling like her whole being was rejoicing. From her bones to her soul to her heart, every part of Clary could feel the change that had happened. The bond she and Izzy shared was different now, Clary could feel it better. There was more distinction between what Clary felt and what Izzy felt, like the path between them had been cleared of rubble that they hadn’t known was there. 

“I feel it, too,” Izzy said softly as if she could hear what Clary was thinking. “We completed the bond.” 

Clary lifted her head slightly, her eyes tracing over the familiar runes on Izzy’s body until she found the one she was looking for. The symbol of their bond, the mark that had formed when they met and connected them so deeply had changed just as Magnus said it would. The previously black lines were now a gorgeous gold that shone with inhuman light. Clary smiled and pressed her lips against the mark. 

“Your mark is gold,” Clary said as she looked back up at Isabelle. Her wife, Isabelle. Izzy smiled at her. 

“Yours is too,” Izzy tugged on Clary’s arm until she lifted herself high enough to their lips could press together again. “We’re married.” 

“I almost can’t believe it’s true,” Clary laughed slightly, propping herself up on her elbow and gazing down at her wife. “This all feels like a dream.” 

“Best dream ever,” Izzy smiled as Clary rolled her eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay with all of this?” 

“We knew it was coming,” Clary nodded her head, brushing a stray strand of hair away from Izzy’s eyes. “I love you and I couldn’t be happier to be your wife.” 

“Even if we can’t tell anyone yet?” Izzy rolled onto her side and rested her hand against Clary’s hip. Clary nodded her head again and leaned in to brush her lips against Izzy’s. 

“Even then,” Clary chuckled. “I at least want to meet your brothers before you tell them we’re married.” 

“They may not accept it. You know that right?” Izzy stroked her thumb against Clary’s hip. “Shadowhunters generally aren’t good with things that push them out of their comfort zone. Alec and Jace aren’t going to accept the whole ‘mystically married by an Angel’s blessing’ thing right away.” 

“Whatever they think, whatever happens, we’ll face it together,” Clary promised. “They’ll either accept it or they won’t. Either way, I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me for life.” 

“I guess I can handle that,” Izzy pushed herself closer to Clary until they were so tangled together, she couldn’t tell where she ended and Clary began. All she knew was that there was something so incredibly right about what they shared and she loved her wife with everything she had. 

Clary was right, whatever was coming next, they would face it together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was not expecting to update again this soon but inspiration struck so here we are! 
> 
> The bond is complete, next chapter will have Alec getting the answers he thinks he wants and then Chapter 13 will set us up for the sequel. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

Clary wakes up giggling, courtesy of the patterns Izzy is drawing on her sides with the tips of her fingers. She can feel Izzy’s happiness radiating through their bond before she’s fully awake, the blinding smile on Izzy’s lips an echo of that happiness when Clary finally opens her eyes. Clary is lying mostly on her side from where she had been Izzy’s little spoon for most of the night, but Izzy has propped herself up so she can look Clary in the eyes. 

“Good morning,” Izzy greets, leaning down slightly and nuzzling her nose against Clary’s neck. Clary hums and lifts one hand to run through Izzy’s messy hair. 

“Hi,” Clary returns and turns her head enough that she can kiss Izzy’s forehead. Izzy leans up fully to connect their lips in a proper kiss. 

Kissing Izzy had never been disappointing in the first place but kissing her now, when they’re both naked and twined together on Clary’s bed the morning after consummating their marriage, Clary doesn’t think it can get any better than that. Eventually they had to pull apart, both to breathe and because at that point they had been more smiling against each other than actually kissing. Isabelle rolled on to her back as she pulled away and stretched languidly, enjoying the soreness that had come from the night before. Clary may have been nervous at the beginning of the night, but she was a quick study and attentive to Isabelle in a way that no other lover had been. Isabelle had been almost disappointed when they both succumbed to the sleep calling for them. 

“Simon wants to meet for breakfast,” Clary said after checking her phone, setting the device down again and rolling over to cuddle into Izzy’s side again. 

“More like brunch now,” Izzy chuckled softly, a low rumble rising from her chest as she felt Clary’s fingers moving against her stomach in very deliberate patterns. 

“We could make it lunch,” Clary suggested, kissing Izzy’s throat softly. 

“Hmm,” Izzy hummed softly, turning her head to the side as Clary’s kisses began to move across her skin and welcoming the weight of Clary’s body pressed against hers as they shifted in the bed. “Keep that up, it will end up being dinner time before we leave here.” 

“Promises, promises,” Clary lifted herself up to press her lips against Izzy’s again but stalled in her motions to caress down Izzy’s body when a crash came from downstairs. 

“Is your mom back already?” Izzy asked as Clary turned her head to look at the door without moving from her position on top of Izzy. 

“I have no idea,” Clary shrugged slightly. Honestly, there could have been a hurricane last night and she would have had no notion of the event. Between the euphoria of being with Izzy and the energy from their bond, Clary had been lost in their love. 

“Maybe we should-” Whatever Izzy was going to suggest was lost as the bedroom door suddenly burst open. Clary was unsure how to react but Izzy’s training took over and she quickly flipped them over, guarding Clary’s naked form with her own body as she checked the nightstand for her weapons. Pulling the sheet firmly around Clary with one hand and reaching for her whip with the other, keeping her weight on her knees over Clary, it was only the sound of a familiar and completely unexpected voice that kept Izzy from attacking outright. 

“Izzy?” 

“Alec?” 

Both siblings stared at one another for a second, mouths open in surprise as every single lesson they had ever been given about controlling their emotions flew out the window. Alec was too shocked to control himself, both at seeing Izzy in bed with someone-there were just certain things he did not need to know about his sister, her sex life on the top of that list-and at the sheer protectiveness she displayed over the girl laying beneath her. The girl, who Alec had never seen before and had now seen much more of her than he would probably ever want too, was just as surprised, and just as naked, as Izzy. Izzy was more used to letting herself feel when she wasn’t in the field now, especially when she was with Clary but it was that same thought that had her regaining her Shadowhunter senses before her brother did. 

If Alec was here then the Institute must have gotten some alert about their bond completing last night, which meant that Clary was in danger of being discovered two months in advance.

“Alec, get out of here,” Izzy ordered her brother, pulling the blankets tighter around herself and Clary as Alec quickly turned his back on his sister, resisting the urge to slap a hand over his eyes as an added precaution. 

“What are you doing here?” Alec nearly yelled the question. 

“What are  _ you  _ doing here?” Izzy returned, slightly more relaxed now that they weren’t in immediate danger. Of course, it helped that Clary had absently grabbed on to Izzy’s hips and tucked herself more firmly against Izzy’s front. 

“Investigating an energy spike,” Alec answered promptly, a burst of recognition from their bond signaling the Clary had come to the same conclusion that Izzy had. “Which you would know if you had checked your phone.” 

“I was busy,” Izzy rolled her eyes as her brother replied. 

“Clearly.” 

“Just go downstairs and wait for us,” Izzy instructed. 

“Us?” 

“Yes, us,” Izzy rolled her eyes as Clary couldn’t keep in the giggle that burst through her lips, the noise suddenly reminding Alec that his sister was very much not alone in bed. 

“Right,” Alec left without another word. Once the door was closed Izzy rolled off of her wife, rubbing her face with a groan. Clary couldn’t help but laugh. 

“What’s so funny?” Izzy asked, one hand over her face. 

“I was wrong before,” Clary laughed again. “That was so much worse than Simon walking in on us making out.” 

Izzy’s next groan was drowned out by Clary’s infectious laugh. 

~

Alec was standing tensley in the walkway between the small foyer and living room when Clary and Izzy emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later, both thankfully fully dressed. Alec watched them closely as they came down the stairs, noting the way Izzy walked just a half step in front of the other girl like she was ready to push the red-head girl out of the way at the first sign of danger. Their hands were hanging between them, tightly intertwined. 

“I want an explanation. Now.” 

“Take it easy, Alec,” Izzy’s voice was softer but no less authoritative as she glared up at her brother. “I promised I would explain everything to you when I left yesterday. You don’t have to be an ass about it.” 

“I’m not being an ass about it,” Alec suppressed a growl as Izzy rolled her eyes. 

“Right,” Izzy’s arm flexed slightly as she pulled on Clary’s hand so they stood hip to hip. “First things first, Clary this is my brother Alec,” Clary offered the tall man a smile but she wasn’t really sure what to do along with that. How does one greet their brother-in-law for the first time? A handshake? A hug? Eventually Clary settled on an awkward wave. Alec gave no reaction but there was a burst of amusement from Izzy. 

“Yeah, hi,” Alec said without even glancing in Clary’s direction. “Care to tell me how you ended up in bed with a mundane?” 

“If you let me finish the introduction I would have,” Izzy’s voice was like steel now, a protective fire in her eyes at the implication of Alec’s words. “Alec, this is Clary. My wife.” 

The air in the room was suddenly stifling, the tension thick, and the silence so complete even the sound of their breathing seemed loud to Clary. Izzy didn’t say a word as Alec processed the news, even as she moved more directly in front of Clary protectively, just in case Alec ended up having an explosive reaction rather than the colder, stewing anger he normally exhibited. 

“You married a mundane?” Alec still didn’t look in Clary’s direction. “Izzy you could be in so much trouble for this, the Clave-”

“This is beyond the reach of the Clave,” Izzy interrupted. “And I didn’t marry a mundane. Clary is a Shadowhunter by birth. It’s not her fault she was never trained.” 

“It’s mine,” Izzy and Alec both turned their heads at the sound of a new voice and Clary wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or more worried now that her mother was home. “I made the choice to leave the shadow world behind shortly before Clary was born, when the Circle fell.” 

“The Circle?” Clary quietly asked Izzy. 

“A group of radical Shadowhunters who wanted to kill Downworlders,” Izzy explained just as quietly. 

“I had planned to tell Clary about who she is, who we are, once she turns 18 but…” 

“But then Clary and I met in a club one night ten months ago and Clary learned about it then,” Izzy filled in. 

“Who are you?” Alec’s question was directed at Clary’s mom, a faint recognition in his eyes when he saw her, like a long forgotten memory. 

“Jocelyn Fray, but I used to be Jocelyn,” she hesitated for a moment, her mouth opening to form one word but quickly changing. “...Fairchild. Jocelyn Fairchild.” 

“Fairchild,” Izzy said softly, mentally running through everything she knew about the line that had been, until then, dormant. Jocelyn’s parents had died many years ago and as far as Izzy knew, Jocelyn had been an only child, but there was something niggling at the back of her mind. Something important that she was missing. 

“I have accepted that Clary will become a Shadowhunter now, but I ask that you let her inform the Clave on her own. If you bring her to the Institute now, our world will be in grave danger.” 

“What danger?” The steel returned to Izzy’s voice at the mere thought of Clary being in danger, much less their entire world. 

“I can’t say, not yet. We had an agreement, I have until Clary is 18 to tell her everything she needs to know,” Jocelyn stood to her full height, her warrior training shining through in her stance and the hard lines of her face. 

“I don’t accept any of this,” Alec stated, arms across his chest. 

“That’s not your choice, Alec,” Izzy told him. “It’s ours.” 

“Yours and Clary’s,” for the first time, Alec looked over at his apparent sister-in-law. “Your wife.” 

“Yes, my wife,” Izzy couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips at the acknowledgment of her new marital status. 

“You don’t have a wedded rune.” 

“We do actually, just not a traditional one,” Clary said, mirroring Izzy as they both raised their hands to cover the golden mark on their chests in a gesture that Alec had seen so often over the past months. When Izzy removed her hand a second later, Alec could see the lines etched into her skin right beside the rune of Angelic Power on her chest. It was a mark he had never seen before, two hearts intertwined with an infinity sign placed in the space where the points crossed. 

“This is the mark of the Angel Camiel, who gave Shadowhunters the blessing of  _ Coniucta animae _ . When Clary and I met, when our hands touched for the first time, we received this blessing and generated the first energy spike that you, Jace, and I investigated.” 

“Right, and the other spikes?” Alec asked, clearly still skeptical about the entire situation. 

“As far as we know, the bond didn’t completely form that first night. It was completed in stages as we grew closer,” Izzy glanced back at Clary for a moment, silently asking how much Clary wanted Izzy to say about the bond being completed. Clary shrugged and sent Izzy a burst of assurance. Izzy nodded in understanding. “I assume there was a big spike last night when we...completed the bond.” 

“Completed the bond?” Alec took in Izzy’s slight smirk and the redness climbing Clary’s cheeks, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hairline as he put the pieces together. “Oh.” 

Clary wanted to laugh if only to break the tension and she could feel Izzy’s amusement through their bond as well, but they both remained silent. Even Jocelyn, now situated in the living room while the three young Shadowhunters talked, looked faintly amused by the time Alec had cleared his throat and seemed ready to speak again. 

“And completing the bond means you two are married?” 

“In the eyes of the Angels, yes, but we’ll probably have to have a formal ceremony at some point for our marriage to be recognized by law,” Izzy explained. “There’s not a whole lot of information for us to go off of.” 

“How do you know any of this is even real?” Alec asked, but Izzy knew it was simply a defense mechanism. It wasn’t that Alec didn’t believe it, but that he didn’t understand it. He didn’t understand how a love like Clary and Izzy’s could exist in their world when he didn’t think he could find a love for himself in their world. 

“I can feel it,” Izzy replied simply. She’d show him the journal at some point, maybe introduce him to Magnus when they go see him later and let him explain but right now Alec had enough new information to process just then. He didn’t need to know about Jonathan Shadowhunter’s lost journals. “Alec, I need you to trust me on this.” 

“I...I’ll try,” Alec nodded his head, his shoulders slumping slightly. Izzy squeezed Clary’s hand shortly before letting go of her, ignoring the sharp stab in her chest at the motion. They had expected that after all, the journal had spoken about the adjustment period the first couple faced after consummating the bond. Until their bodies and souls adjusted to the new level of connection they felt, they would have a prickling sensation in their chests that would grow stronger and more painful the more time they spent not touching. Izzy ignored the pain for now and placed her hand on Alec’s arm. 

“I know you’ll have more questions later, and I promise we’ll answer them but right now I need your help. I can’t leave Clary until our bond stabilizes, and she can’t come to the Institute yet. I need you to keep this a secret until then, from everyone. Including Jace.” 

“Izzy,” Alec protested immediately but the rest of his sentence died on his lips when he saw the look in Izzy’s eyes. 

“I know he’s your parabatai, and you won’t have to keep this a secret forever, but I need you to do this now.  _ We  _ need you to do this.” 

The emphasis on the word ‘we’ stuck out to Alec, a reminder that Izzy no longer had her own safety to worry about but her wife’s too. Alec sighed but nodded his head. 

“Fine. But I’m not happy about this and you,” Alec looked over at Clary sharply, “if anything happens to my sister because you can’t protect her, it’ll be you who needs protecting.” 

“Alec.” Izzy’s tone was sharp, her glare fierce but Alec didn’t back down as he stared at Clary. 

“She doesn’t need protecting,” Clary replied, resisting the urge to shrink under Alec’s glare. The message in his body language was clear enough. He didn’t like Clary, didn’t trust her, and wasn’t going to go easy on her. “But I’ll die before I let anything happen to her.” 

“Good. Izzy, a word,” Alec turned to walk out the door, Izzy following behind him with a reassuring smile directed at Clary, echoed by a burst of the love they shared flowing through the bond. 

“So,” Jocelyn said in the quiet of the apartment, trying to distract her daughter both from the pain she would feel being separated from Izzy and the argument that was most likely brewing on the other side of the door. 

“What aren’t you telling me?” Clary asked. “You didn’t tell me about the Shadow world for 17 years, you didn’t tell me my last name until five minutes ago, and you still haven’t told me what I should be so scared of. What gives?” 

“I’m trying to protect you, Clary,” Jocelyn said with a sigh, not eager to rehash the same argument that she had had with Luke the night before. Luke was of the mind that Clary needed to know the truth, the full truth, so that when she finally met the Clave she could be as prepared as possible. Jocelyn was having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that her daughter had a wife, she couldn’t think about telling Clary the full truth. Clary deserved to live in a Valentine free world for as long as possible. 

“I don’t need to be protected. I need to be prepared,” Clary responded instantly, rubbing at her chest as the ache there increased every second she wasn’t touching Izzy. “I belong in the Shadow World, I was born to be a Shadowhunter but you took that away from me. If it wasn’t for Izzy, I still would have no idea about any of this.” 

“There was never a right time to tell you,” Jocelyn protested weakly. Clary’s stubbornness would end up dragging the answer out of Jocelyn sooner rather than later but Jocelyn still wanted to cling to the idea of her little girl needing to be sheltered and secured. No matter how much that image of her daughter clashed with the strong, independent woman Clary was becoming, not to mention her increasingly impressive fighting skills as she continued training with Luke. 

“There is now,” Clary rubbed at her chest again, dropping onto the couch cushion furthest away from her mother. 

“No,” Jocelyn shook her head. “Your bond is unstable, you need to concentrate on that. And you just got married, you need to enjoy that. When all of this is settled, when you are 18, I will tell you everything. I promise.” 

“Fine,” Clary agreed, clearly not happy being made to wait another two months to find out what was so important that her mother had to hide it for 18 years. 

They waited in tense silence, the pain in Clary’s chest slowly moving from unpleasant to out right painful when Izzy finally returned to the living room. She claimed the seat right beside Clary and immediately pulled her close, both of them heaving a sigh of relief as the pain subsided. 

~

Izzy remained at the Fray loft for the next four days as she and Clary settled into their new level of the bond. There were times when they would be sitting together, cuddled up on the couch or in Clary’s bedroom to watch a movie and Clary would blink, her world shifting just the slightest bit and the color just slightly off, like she was looking through a glass. The same would happen to Izzy at times, like they were looking through one another’s eyes. Other times, Izzy would swear she heard Clary’s voice in her head, softer than a whisper only to find that Clary hadn’t spoken at all. 

These instances happened less frequently as the bond stabilized and by the fifth morning, when Izzy was packing up the bag Alec had brought her full of clothes, they had completely subsided. Clary was leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest, watching Izzy pack up her things. 

“Why don’t I just come with you to the Institute?” Clary asked with a slight pout. 

“Because we’re trying not to piss off your mom so she’ll finally tell us what’s so dangerous,” Izzy replied as she zipped her bag up and turned to face her wife. She smiled at the sight of Clary’s adorable pout and held her hand out. Clary entered the room and clasped her wife’s hand, letting herself be pulled closer so Izzy could wrap her arms around her waist. “Two months, less than that really, and you will be at the Institute with me.” 

“That’s two months that I have to sleep without you,” Clary wrapped her own arms around Izzy’s waist. 

“I knew you were only with me for my body,” Izzy laughed as Clary slowly looked her up and down. 

“Can you blame me?” 

Izzy cut off Clary’s laugh with a kiss, holding her as close as she could. The bond they shared rang with a melancholy contentment, both happy to be in the moment but knowing that it was coming to an end. They separated a moment later only for Clary to pull Izzy back in. 

“I thought you wanted to spend some time with Simon anyway, since you won’t see him much once you’re a Shadowhunter,” Izzy said when they separated again. 

“I can spend time with you and Simon,” Clary protested. “He’s sure he’s finally found a date so we can all go out together.” 

“As nice as that would be, we both know I have to get back. I don’t want to go either,” Izzy pulled Clary into a hug. Of course, Clary knew that Izzy didn’t want to go. Both of them had been projecting their reluctance to be away from one another since the bond stabilized the night before and they could go more than a few minutes away from each other without being in pain. 

“I know,” Clary turned her head to kiss Izzy’s neck. “I just hate that I still have to wait to go with you.” 

“Not for very much longer. Just a few weeks and then you’ll be stuck with me forever,” Izzy laughed as Clary kissed her neck again. 

“I’m already stuck with you forever, and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Clary lifted her head to kiss Izzy again. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” Izzy kissed her again, first on the lips and then on the nose, then the forehead. “And I’ll be back in a few days. We’re totally keeping the Saturday date nights.” 

“Can’t wait,” Clary pulled away slightly. “Let me know when you make it back. If you thought worried girlfriend was a lot, worried wife is on a whole nother level.” 

“I’ll call you tonight, and let you know how things go with Alec,” Izzy promised, picking up her bag with one hand and pulling Clary into another embrace with the other. “I love you.” 

“I love you,” Clary kissed her. “Now go, before I tie you to the bed and keep you here forever.” 

“I’m going,” Izzy began to move towards the back entrance to Clary’s room. “But we’re revisiting the tying to the bed thing later.” 

“Promises, promises.” 

The sound of Izzy’s laughter as she left was enough to soothe the ache in Clary’s heart at watching her wife walk away from her and restore the hope that soon, they’d be together every night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like Alec was kinda OOC but I was tired of trying to re-write that part so *shrugs*
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	13. Chapter 13

Just as Magnus and Jonathan Shadowhunter’s journal had warned, Izzy and Clary’s bond had brought them closer together, physically in the beginning but mentally and emotionally as time went on. Their passive sense of one another had grown into a near-constant awareness, unless one of them was actively blocking the other. They could better separate their own emotions in the bond and control which emotions to project whereas before, if they weren’t actively blocking, they could feel everything. It was nice to have more control over their bond, and to know that the direct link between them had only gotten stronger. 

Of course, it was all the more frustrating for Clary. Jocelyn had yet to give her any more information on their Shadowhunter family or the danger that she swore she was protecting Clary from. Luke’s only advice had been to wait until Clary was 18, when Jocelyn had promised to tell her and Izzy everything. Clary’s birthday was fast approaching but Jocelyn had given no inclination that she intended to tell Clary anything. Since Izzy’s brother, at least one of them, knew that Clary existed now and that she and Izzy were married, Clary’s patience was running out. She wanted to be at the Institute. She wanted to train and join the Shadowhunter ranks and prove that she was better than whatever terrible legacy her family apparently had. She wanted to be with Izzy. 

It was frustrating being apart from Isabelle when they were just friends, more so when they officially started dating but now they were married it was nearly torture. It wasn’t even that Clary just wanted to feel Izzy again because she  _ did _ . She wanted to trail her fingers across Izzy’s skin, hear the sounds that came from her throat when Clary kissed that spot on her neck, feel her hands gripping Clary’s shoulders, nail scratching across her back. She wanted Izzy, craved her. But she also just wanted to hold her hand when they walked down the street. She wanted to train with her, eat with her, enjoy all the little things that married people could do together for no other reason than they wanted to. 

Clary was so busy missing her wife, she didn’t even notice when Isabelle stepped into her bedroom until an unusually bright burst of amusement shot through her. She pressed a hand to her chest in surprise, she hadn’t felt much from Izzy all day which Clary thought meant she had been on a mission, and turned towards the back door to her room. 

Izzy was standing there, looking tired and annoyed but still as gorgeous as the first time Clary had seen her nearly a year ago now. She was dressed for a mission, thigh holster in place and her whip coiled at her hip instead of hanging from her wrist as a bracelet. Clary was off her bed and throwing her arms around Izzy without wasting a second. 

“Hello to you too,” Izzy chuckled in Clary’s ear as she wrapped her arms around her waist. 

“Sorry,” Clary pulled back slightly, leaving her arms around Izzy’s shoulders. “I missed you.” 

“I missed you, too,” Izzy lifted her hands to cup Clary’s cheeks and bring their mouths together. They kissed languidly for a moment and would have continued if Clary hadn’t accidentally touched a sore spot on Izzy’s back. 

“What happened?” Clary asked after Izzy pulled away with a quiet gasp, echoed in their bond by a small echo of pain. 

“I might have had a run in with a fire escape,” Izzy shrugged and then winced. Clary lifted her eyebrow, hands moving to the zipper of Izzy’s jacket and pulling it down. “Okay, I may have been thrown into a fire escape.” 

“Izzy,” Clary said softly, easing Izzy’s jacket down her shoulders. It fell to the floor with a soft thump. 

“I’m fine,” Izzy assured her just as softly. “Or I will be after I use an iratze.” 

“Why didn’t you do that before you got here?” Clary reached to untuck Izzy’s top from her pants and slowly lifted it up. “Or Alec?” 

“I didn’t tell Alec, he’s still being weird about us,” Izzy obediently lifted her arms so Clary could pull her top off. Clary dropped the shirt by the jacket and held Izzy by her bare hips for a moment, distracted by the skin now on display for a second before she shook herself out of that and directed Izzy to turn. “He was distracted by Jace so I just slipped away.” 

“Won’t that make him mad when you go back to the Institute?” Clary’s fingers gently brushed across the skin on Izzy’s back, inspecting the bruise just off center there. Clary smiled slightly as she noticed the goosebumps that rose in the wake of her fingers across Izzy’s back. 

“Probably but I don’t care,” Izzy turned back around to face Clary, stele in hand which Clary took and activated the iratze rune to heal the bruise. “I wanted to see you.” 

“I’m glad you’re here,” Clary gave Izzy back her stele and wrapped her arms around her again. 

“Me too,” Izzy leaned in and kissed her wife softly. She could feel Clary smile against her lips and swallowed the soft moan Clary released when Izzy’s hand slipped beneath her shirt. “Is there anyone else here?” 

“Are you going to stop if I say yes?” Clary dipped her head lower to kiss Izzy’s neck. 

“No,” Izzy moved her hands along Clary’s back, dragging her shirt up at the same time. “That just means we have to be quiet.” 

Clary’s giggle was silenced by Izzy’s lips. 

~ 

After, they laid in Clary’s bed together, Izzy idly running her fingers through Clary’s mussed hair as she dozed against Izzy’s chest. Contentment rang through their bond and Izzy found her thoughts drifting towards their future. Once Clary joined the Shadow World, they’d have to keep their relationship partially hidden for a little while. Based on Alec’s reaction, the Shadowhunters weren’t ready to know about Camiel’s Blessing so announcing that she and Clary were married already wouldn’t be a good idea. They’d be together, of course, Izzy would start ‘courting’ Clary as soon as she came to the Institute and then it would only be a matter of time before she’d be accepted into their world enough for them to have a proper Shadowhunter wedding. The thought of Clary in a golden wedding dress at the altar filled Izzy with unbridled joy. 

“You’re happy,” Clary murmured against Izzy’s chest, tilting her head up slightly and kissing the underside of her wife’s jaw, eyes still closed. 

“Why shouldn’t I be?” Izzy hummed. “I'm here, with my wife, and soon I’ll be able to spend every night like this.” 

“Just like this?” Clary teased, rubbing her fingers against Izzy’s bare stomach and enjoying the way the muscles tensed beneath her touch. 

“More or less,” Izzy said. “Clothes are optional, of course.” 

Clary laughed as she sat up, shifting slightly so she could kiss Izzy again for what had to be the millionth time that night. Izzy took Clary’s hand in one of hers, the other tangling in red tresses as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss. Clary trailed her free hand down Izzy’s chest, tracing the rune connecting them with her fingertips. 

_ Angel,  _ Izzy thought,  _ I love you.  _

_ I love you too _

Neither of them paused their kiss long enough to realize that they hadn’t spoken out loud. They kept the kiss light and sweet, despite their obvious mutual desire to do much more than kissing. Clary didn’t want to push their luck. Besides, she was more than happy to have Izzy in arms just then. Now that they were together, that burning desire had abated a bit. Absently, Clary wondered if that was the bond working or just a product of the love she felt for Izzy. 

A knock on the door made Clary pull away, gripping the sheets with one hand to make sure she and her wife were both covered before the door swung open. 

“Oh,” Jocelyn stood on the other side of the now open door. “Isabelle, I didn’t realize you were here.” 

“Mom,” Clary, still slightly hovering above Isabelle, clutched the sheets tighter. Jocelyn smiled for a moment as she looked at them and then schooled herself and reached for the door, pulling it closed. 

“Sorry, um,” there was a shuffling sound and Izzy pressed her mouth against Clary’s throat to stifle a laugh. “It’s a good thing you’re here, Izzy. It’s time we talked.” 

“We’ll be downstairs in a few minutes,” Clary called back through the door, waiting until she heard her mother’s retreating footsteps to roll back to the other side of the bed. 

“That’s becoming a habit,” Izzy laughed as Clary groaned. Rolling onto her side, Izzy propped her head up with one hand, laying the other arm across Clary’s abdomen. Clary found Izzy’s hand on her stomach and twined their fingers together. 

“A bad one,” Clary agreed, squeezing Izzy’s hand and then sitting up. “We should get downstairs before Mom decides we aren’t moving fast enough.” 

“What do you think she wants to tell us?” Izzy asked, releasing Clary and rolling to climb out of bed in search of her clothes. 

“Hopefully something useful,” Clary threw Izzy her bra and continued dressing herself. “Maybe something about my father.” 

“I thought she was still keeping quiet about that?” Izzy tucked her shirt back into her pants and walked around the bed to intercept a now regretfully fully dressed Clary. 

“She has been but she had to know she’s running out of time. I’ll be 18 Saturday, and by that night I’ll be at the Institute with you,” Clary ran her hands down Izzy’s arms. “Where I should be.” 

“I won’t argue with that,” Izzy smiled and pulled Clary close for one last kiss before they joined hands and left the room together. 

Jocelyn was waiting for them downstairs with a cup of tea in her hands, which she stared into. She looked up as the young couple entered, gesturing for them to sit on the couch which they did a moment later. 

“I feel like I should scold you for having a girl over without telling me but…” 

“But since she’s my wife, you kind of can’t.” Clary rested her hand on Izzy’s thigh. Jocelyn laughed a little. 

“I still could but I won’t,” Jocelyn set her cup of tea down on the coffee table. “I know that the both of you want answers, but there are some that I can’t give you. Not yet.” 

“Mom,” 

“Clary, wait please. It’s not because I don’t want to tell you or because I don’t think you’re ready to know. There is more at stake here than just us. If the wrong people find out, it could mean the end of the Shadow World, and the Mundane.” 

“Mom, you can’t say something like that and not elaborate,” Clary said. She opened her mouth to argue further but Izzy stopped her with a hand on her wrist. 

“You think that this threat is coming for you,” Isabelle said, flipping her hand to take Clary’s when she felt the surprise and worry that rose suddenly. “You want Clary to be safe when that happens.” 

“I do,” Jocelyn nodded her head. “I know that someone is coming, I’ve known for a long time. I suppose I should feel grateful that Clary won’t be left unprotected when it happens. I am thankful for that,” Jocelyn looked between the young couple. “I just wish we had more time.” 

“Mom, why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye?” Clary could feel the tears welling in her eyes and squeezed Izzy’s hand in an attempt to comfort herself. 

“I’m not, at least I don’t mean to be but Clary,” Jocelyn leaned across the empty space between them and took her daughter’s free hand in her own. “You’re married, you’re about to join the world that I left behind. As much as I’d love for you to stay here with me forever, you’re an adult now. You deserve to make your own way in this world, be it Shadow or Mundane.” 

“But you’re still a Shadowhunter, right?” Izzy asked. “You were never de-runed?” 

“I think I’m officially dead in the Shadow World actually,” Jocelyn forced a laugh. “But no, I was never de-runed. I still have them, covered with a glamour.” 

“Then there’s no reason why you can’t come to Institute as well,” Izzy squeezed Clary’s hand comfortingly. “If you’re in as much danger as you say, wouldn’t it be better to be around more Shadowhunters anyway? Strength in numbers.” 

“Not this time,” Jocelyn shook her head sadly. “No, this is something that I started, it’s something that I have to end.” 

“You don’t have to do anything alone,” Clary told her vehemently, not bothering to hide her tears. Her mother was trying to put it lightly but Clary could read between the lines. Whatever, whoever was coming for Jocelyn, she didn’t believe she would survive the encounter. “We can help, Izzy’s fully trained and I know I’m not yet but I can still fight.” 

“I know you can, and I know you would, both of you,” Jocelyn nodded towards Izzy, “but I can’t ask you to. I won’t ask you to.” 

“So you’re just going to sacrifice yourself? For something that you won’t even tell me about? How am I supposed to be okay with that?” Clary pulled her hands away from both her mother and her wife to wipe angrily at the tears that slipped down her cheeks. Izzy wrapped her arm around Clary’s waist in silent support, sending Clary her love through the bond. It was the only comfort she could think to give. 

“I’m not sacrificing myself, Clary. I promise, I am going to fight when he comes for me. I just want you to be prepared. When everything comes out, I want you to know that I tried to do the right thing,” Jocelyn stood up and walked around the coffee table to sit on Clary’s other side. “And, when the battle is over, I’ll tell you everything I’ve been hiding.” 

Clary let herself sink into her mother’s embrace and missed the silent conversation Jocelyn and Izzy had over her head. Jocelyn’s request was clear and it was one that Izzy would gladly do. She’d protect Clary, she’d be there for her if the worse came to pass, and no matter what happened, Izzy would love her. 

Once Clary’s tears dried, she leaned away from her mother and found Izzy’s hand. Jocelyn wiped at her own eyes and reached for her now cold tea. 

“Well,” Jocelyn said, “I’m sure the two of you have better places to be than hanging out with me.” 

“I think we’re good right here,” Izzy replied easily, squeezing Clary around the waist to acknowledge the gratefulness she felt coming from her. “Last time I saw Simon he said something about being Luke’s father? What was that about?” 

“You’ve never seen Star Wars?” Clary asked in mock-outrage as Jocelyn shook her head with a laugh, standing up from the couch and moving over to the shelf where she kept a sizable movie collection. 

“Um, no?” Izzy swung her bare feet up onto the couch now, leaning back and pulling Clary with her so they were both reclining comfortably. “Shadowhunters don’t really interact with mundanes unless we have to. Everything I know about mundane culture I’ve learned from you.” 

“But still! It’s Star Wars!”

“Don’t let her fool you,” Jocelyn said as she walked back over to them, a DVD case in hand. “She only knows about this because Simon was obsessed when they were twelve.” 

Izzy laughed as she felt Clary’s embarrassment come through the bond, pressing a kiss against red hair. “I can’t promise to stay for the whole movie but I’d like to watch it.” 

“Oh sure you can,” Clary wiggled against Izzy in an attempt to make herself more comfortable. “Alec wouldn’t show up here again, not after what happened last time.” 

“What happened last time?” Jocelyn asked as she claimed the chair for herself again, remote in hand. Clary and Isabelle looked at one another for a moment and then at Jocelyn, and then burst into laughter. “What?” 

Neither girl offered to elaborate on what was so funny and Jocelyn eventually just let it go in favor of enjoying a nice morning watching a movie with her daughter and daughter-in-law. 

The Circle was coming and Valentine with them, but now that Clary had Izzy, had a place to go and someone to love her the way she deserved, Jocelyn wasn’t as worried. Somehow, she knew that everything would work out alright in the end. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! Into the Shadows is complete, Clary and Izzy are happily married and ready to take on the Shadow World together. I hope y'all enjoyed this fic and thanks so much for reading. 
> 
> About the sequel: I plan on continuing this but I won't begin posting the next part until I have all of season 1 completely written and probably half of season 2 as well. I have about a million other WIPS that I'm working on as well, so honestly idk when that will be. 
> 
> I hope to see you on the next one!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! Welcome to my new pre-series to series rewrite Clizzy fic! This is something that I've been thinking of writing for a while, started working on then realized I already had 18k words down before I even knew it. I'm super excited to share this with y'all and to hear your thoughts. Just a few quick notes: 
> 
> The first couple of chapters are fairly short but I think I really found my voice around chapter four, so please give it a chance. 
> 
> Next, I know I'm not the first person to do a series rewrite of this show and I doubt I'll be the last 
> 
> Finally, feel free to ask me any questions you have about the soul bond or this fic in general, but keep in mind that the bond and stories relevant to it will be revealed as we go along. 
> 
> As always feel free to come yell at me over on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ambs-writes) where I'll also be posting periodic updates, sneak peeks, moodboards for this fic. 
> 
> Happy reading! 
> 
> PS: If you want to see the moodboard for the whole fic check out [this tumblr post](https://ambs-writes.tumblr.com/post/187800837654/into-the-shadows-by-ambswrites-jocelyn-had-tried)


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